Israel's Sharon denies wrongdoing in bribery scandal

10.15am

JERUSALEM - Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon denied any wrongdoing on Thursday when police questioned him about a bribery scandal, Israel Radio reported.

Sharon said that he was not aware of his son Gilad Sharon's business deals with an Israeli property dealer who has been charged with attempting to bribe the prime minister in the 1990s.

Sharon's office made no comment on the report.

Police questioned Sharon for two-and-a-half hours at his official Jerusalem residence about the bribery scandal.

A senior police source said Sharon had "co-operated fully" during the session and investigators had no immediate plans to question him again.

A businessman friend was charged last month with trying to bribe Sharon when he was foreign minister. Prosecutors have said they should decide within months whether to indict the prime minister -- a move many analysts believe would force him from office.


- REUTERS