February 28, 2008	Thursday	Safar 20 ,1429

TEL AVIV: The son of former Israeli premier Ariel Sharon began a seven-month prison sentence on Wednesday for corruption and fraud in connection with his father’s Likud party leadership bid.

Omri Sharon, a 43-year-old former MP, was taken from Tel Aviv district court in a prison van to a minimum-security jail in the centre of the country, just a day after his coma-stricken father turned 80.

Sharon was sentenced to jail and fined 300,000 shekels ($81,000) in February 2006 after he was found guilty of fraud during his father’s 1999 campaign for the leadership of the right-wing Likud.

However, his sentence was delayed to allow him to spend time with his father, who had suffered a debilitating stroke in January 2006.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that Sharon must begin his jail term.

Omri Sharon, who was a key backroom ally, attracted an outpouring of national sympathy following the stroke because of his devotion, spending much of his time at his father’s bedside.—AFP