October 31, 2003	Friday	Ramazan 4, 1424

TEL AVIV, Oct 30: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was grilled for seven hours on Thursday by fraud squad detectives over a simmering corruption scandal involving two of his sons, police sources said.

Police said that they would issue a lengthier statement later, but public radio reported that detectives would return to question the prime minister next week.

Mr Sharon faced questioning over allegations that he used a 1.5-million-dollar loan from South African businessman Cyril Kern to return contributions for his 1999 campaign for the leadership of the right-wing Likud party that had been deemed illegal.

The investigators, led by the national fraud squad’s chief, Lieutenant Commander Miri Golsan, want to know under what conditions Sharon accepted the loan from Kern, who has been described as a “personal friend” of the prime minister.

Sharon’s son Omri, a Likud MP who is believed to have brokered the loan, was questioned for 90 minutes by police earlier this month.

In January, the prime minister rejected corruption allegations against his family as “scornful libel”, but he has so far refrained from answering numerous questions about the affair.

Ariel Sharon was also expected to have to answer questions about the activities of his second son, Gilad.

Mr Gilad allegedly helped contractor David Appel to promote a multi-million dollar Greek resort in exchange for cash and a commitment by Appel to pour money into the Sharon family’s ranch in the Negev desert.

Also questioned by police, Mr Gilad refused to supply officials with financial documents relating to the affair.

Ariel Sharon publicly scolded fellow Likud MP Naomi Blumenthal for failing to answer police questioning over a cash-for-votes scandal earlier this year and some of his political opponents have called on him to fully cooperate.

The Haaretz daily said that Sharon has been preparing for his round of questioning all week with his lawyer Dori Kegelsblad, who has been tapped as a possible replacement for the current Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein, whose term of office ends at the end of the year.

The investigators had been mandated by Mr Rubinstein to question the premier.

The corruption affair has helped lead to a slump in Sharon’s poll ratings at a time when the economy is in crisis and the peace process with the Palestinians has ground to a complete halt.

Sharon’s long-time rival Binyamin Netanyahu, his predecessor as Likud leader, also faced questioning at the hands of police investigators after his time as Israeli prime minister over allegations that he failed to declare gifts received while in office.

The current finance minister never faced charges.—AFP