Israeli lawmakers are urging Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to resign after his former campaign aid revealed on national television that he had lied about bribery and money laundering charges surrounding his 1999 election campaign.
"It's his duty to step down," said left-wing politician and member of the Parliament State Comptroller's Committee, Ran Cohen. He said the affair had caused "an absolute rift of trust between the public and the government."
Sharon, generally known for his role in facilitating the violence against hundreds of Palestinians of the Sabra and Chatila refugee camp in West Beirut, Lebanon, dismissed corruption reports last January calling them “vicious political slander” and “a despicable libel, which I will disprove with documents and facts.”
A tape recording was made public Monday night by private investigator David Spector, who served as one of Sharon’s campaign aids during the right-wing Likud primaries. Aired on the local Channel Two station, the tape reveals a conversation between Sharon and Spector regarding money transfers from Europe and the United States.
The recording also reveals a document that listed a series of foreign currency accounts in Israeli banks where campaign donations were transferred. Sharon is heard saying that he wanted information on the accounts by five that afternoon."There is no doubt that Sharon was involved in everything and was interested in the smallest details," Spector said.
Detectives questioned Sharon in October about a $1.5-million low-interest loan obtained by the leader’s two sons, Gilad and Omri, in 2002 from South African businessman Cyril Kern. The funds were supposedly used as collateral to secure a loan to repay illegal donations accepted by Sharon in 1999 campaign. Political contributions from abroad are illegal in Israel.
Israeli police are also investigating a shady business transaction between Gilad and Likud-affiliated businessman David Appel. The industrialist allegedly paid the younger Sharon hundreds of thousands of dollars to market a tourism venture that Appel wanted to build on a Greek Island. Appel also purportedly bribed Sharon with logistical support, financing and activists during the 1999 campaign. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
