Corruption probe ‘will not deter Sharon’

PRIME MINISTER Ariel Sharon is determined to withdraw Israeli troops and settlers from much of the Gaza Strip.

This is despite a mounting corruption probe that could drive him out of office, a close ally said yesterday.

Sharon suffered his latest setback yesterday when the Supreme Court ordered his son to hand over potentially incriminating documents related to two corruption cases, including a bribery probe involving the premier.

The decision came a day after Israel's chief prosecutor, Edna Arbel, recommended that Sharon and his son be indicted in the 1999 bribery case, in which a property developer allegedly paid the Sharon family hundreds of thousands of pounds in exchange for help in promoting a tourism project.

The final decision on whether to indict Sharon is up to Israel's attorney general, who is expected to rule within weeks.

The mounting problems have prompted opposition calls for Sharon to step down. Yesterday, opposition MP Yossi Sarid said he asked the prime minister during a closed-door parliamentary hearing to suspend himself while the investigation is pending. Sarid quoted Sharon as saying: "I am functioning as I should".

The investigations also have weakened Sharon's standing in his own Likud Party, throwing into doubt his plan to withdraw from most of the Gaza Strip and isolated West Bank settlements. Sharon has said he would go ahead if peace making with the Palestinian remains stalled.

Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday Sharon will not be deterred.

"I am convinced that disengagement plan will advance. The prime minister is determined to do this," Olmert said.

Sharon's aides have declined to comment on the corruption probes. But privately, they say the prime minister has no plans to resign.

The prospect of an unprecedented indictment of an Israeli prime minister could have immediate political consequences undermining Sharon's plan to pull out of Gaza, or conversely, pushing him to speed up the pullout to ward off legal action.

Under Israeli legal precedent, a Cabinet minister who is indicted must step aside. But Sharon advisers say this does not apply to prime ministers, promising a court fight if an indictment is handed down.