Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has cleared his schedule Thursday to face interrogations over bribery and money laundering charges surrounding his 1999 right-wing Likud party primaries campaign.
Detectives from the International Investigations Department will question Sharon about an alleged $1.5-million low-interest loan obtained by the leader’s two sons, Gilad and Omri, last year from South African businessman Cyril Kern.
The funds were supposedly used as collateral to secure a loan to repay illegal donations accepted by Sharon during his 1999 campaign, reported Haaretz. At the time, Sharon failed to mention Kern’s contribution and told the police that he had raised the loan by mortgaging his ranch.
Political contributions from abroad are illegal in Israel.
Sharon, generally known for his role in facilitating the violence against hundreds of Palestinians of the Sabra and Chatila refugee camp in West Beirut, Lebanon, dismissed the corruption reports in January calling them “vicious political slander” and “a despicable libel, which I will disprove with documents and facts.”
The Prime Minister will also be questioned about a shady business transaction between his son Gilad and Likud-affiliated businessman David Appel. The industrialist allegedly paid the younger Sharon hundreds of thousands of dollars to market a tourism venture that Appel wanted to build on a Greek Island. Appel also purportedly bribed Sharon with logistical support, financing and activists during the 1999 campaign.
By law, Sharon would have to resign if he were impeached; shifting the spotlight away from Palestinian-Israeli relations over to domestic politics. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
