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Report: Prosecutors recommend charging Sharon

Accusations of bribery have dogged Israeli leader


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The scandal known as 'the Greek island affair'
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Ariel Sharon
Ehud Olmert
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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An Israeli television network reported Saturday that prosecutors have decided to recommend indicting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over a bribery scandal involving a real estate developer.

It will be a month before Israel's attorney general decides whether to charge Sharon, Channel 2 reported.

If Sharon is indicted, Israeli case law indicates he would have to suspend himself from office while the matter was resolved.

The Justice Ministry and the prime minister's office declined to comment. Previously, Sharon has denied any wrongdoing.

When prosecutors recommend an indictment, the attorney general usually goes along with it, according to Moshe Negbi, an Israeli legal analyst.

But in this case, Negbi said: "I wouldn't place too much significance on the recommendation until the attorney general makes his decision."

Sharon also faces an accusation that he received an illegal $1.5 million loan during his campaign to win the leadership of the Likud party in 1999. That investigation is ongoing.

In January, prosecutors indicted David Appel, an Israeli businessman whom they accuse of paying $690,000 in bribes to Sharon when he was foreign minister in the late 1990s.

The indictment against Appel said bribes -- which also allegedly went to Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a close associate of Sharon's, and Sharon's son Gilad -- were used to get aid to develop a Greek real estate project and secure the rezoning of land near Tel Aviv.

From 1998 to 1999, Sharon was Israel's foreign minister and Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem. Both officials are members of the Likud party.

Some lawmakers from the opposition Labor Party have called for Sharon's resignation. Sharon has rejected such calls and has said he did nothing wrong.

Prosecutors said they had 200 witnesses to buttress their case on Appel, but attorneys for the businessman maintain their client is innocent.

In January, the Justice Ministry said a decision on whether to indict Olmert and Gilad Sharon will be made at the same time as the decision on Sharon. Olmert and Gilad Sharon have said they did nothing wrong.

In the late 1990s, according to prosecutor, Appel enlisted the help of Sharon and Olmert because he was having trouble with the project, according to the indictment and prosecutors. The men were to meet with Greek government officials on behalf of Appel, and in return, they allegedly would receive help with their political campaigns, the indictment and prosecutors said.

The businessman is accused of indirectly paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to Sharon, the charge sheet said. Some of the money went to the prime minister's son, Gilad, who was allegedly paid an inflated salary for his work as a consultant, the indictment said.


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