JERUSALEM (AP) - Police questioned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday for a seventh time in connection with one of the multiple corruption probes that have driven him to announce his resignation.
Olmert was questioned for 2 1/2 hours over a house he bought in Jerusalem before becoming prime minister in 2006, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
The premier is suspected of having received the house at a discount in exchange for promoting a Jerusalem construction project while he was the city's mayor. Police suspect irregular building permits were granted.
Rosenfeld said Olmert's wife, Aliza, was also questioned for the first time in connection with the probes targeting the Israeli leader. He said he did not know whether she would be questioned further.
The prime minister denies any wrongdoing in any of the cases and he has not been charged. Olmert has said he plans to step down after his Kadima Party holds leadership elections next month so he can fight the allegations — all of which concern events that predated his premiership.
The main probe concerns tens of thousands of dollars in cash he allegedly took from Jewish-American businessman Morris Talansky. Olmert's lawyers will continue cross-examining Talansky on Sunday and Monday, in an effort to refute his accusations. But Talansky's Israeli lawyer, Jacques Chen, said Friday that a Jerusalem court has put off the questioning until an undetermined date.
Talansky's U.S. lawyers had recommended that he refuse to testify again before an Israeli court because the Israeli investigation mirrors a probe in the U.S., and by testifying further in Israel, Talansky could incriminate himself. |