LOS ANGELES, July 30: The arrest of Mel Gibson for drunk driving prompted renewed accusations on Sunday that the Oscar-winning director and actor harboured anti-Semitic feelings.

Gibson, whose controversial 2004 film The Passion of the Christ was a major hit, was arrested in the early hours of Friday morning for allegedly driving his 2006 Lexus at 87mph along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, the beach town north of Los Angeles.

Celebrity website TMZ.com posted portions of what it called the arresting deputy’s original report, which said Gibson was abusive, shouted anti-Jewish slurs and boasted that he ‘owned Malibu’.

The TMZ report quoted Gibson as saying, “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” He then asked the deputy, “Are you a Jew?”

Gibson issued a statement on Saturday in which he apologised for driving while drunk and for his ‘belligerent behaviour’ toward the Los Angeles County deputy sheriffs who arrested him.

In his statement the 50-year-old actor said he has ‘battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse’.—Reuters