JERUSALEM, July 29: Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a contender to replace Ehud Olmert as prime minister, publicly acknowledged on Tuesday she had been an agent for the Mossad spy agency.

“I served for four years within Mossad,” she told army radio. “I also followed training courses and worked overseas.” Livni declined to discuss any missions she may have conducted for the agency.

“I quit Mossad when I married because I could not continue to lead this kind of life,” she said.

Israeli and foreign media had previously said Livni worked for Mossad between 1980 and 1984, but she had not publicly confirmed the reports.

Livni, 49, is a candidate in a leadership election that Olmert’s centrist Kadima party is scheduled to hold by Sept 23. Olmert, who is dogged by a series of graft scandals, is yet to announce whether he will compete.—AFP