May 03, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 26, 1429

JERUSALEM, May 2: Israel’s fraud squad on Friday questioned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has been dogged by corruption scandals that surfaced after he took office in 2006, police said.

The investigators, led by National Fraud Squad Lieutenant chief Commander Shlomi Ayalon, arrived at Olmert’s official residence in Jerusalem well before the announced time to avoid the throng of media gathered outside.

Public radio said the authorities had requested the hour-long interview following an important new development that emerged in recent days in investigations into corruption claims.

But the authorities would not say why Attorney General Menachem Mazuz took what local media said was the unusual step of permitting an “urgent” questioning under caution of Olmert.

The mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot reported on Friday that the authorities were examining new allegations that Olmert had received kickbacks before he assumed office.

The daily claimed the affair involved large sums of cash being given by a US businessman who is under investigation and who reportedly implicated Olmert when he was questioned during a recent trip to Israel.

Olmert’s former office manager, Shula Zaken, was also questioned recently in relation with corruption claims, Israeli media reported.Opposition lawmakers called on Olmert to take temporary leave pending the conclusion of the investigations.

“Olmert is the most suspected PM in Israel’s history,” said Gideon Saar, chairman of the Likud faction. The prime minister is already the subject of three police inquiries into suspected corruption.—AFP