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| Israel-Palestine |
| Israel's AG drops bribery probe against Sharon |
| 2004-06-16 |
| Israel's attorney general dropped a bribery investigation against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday, removing the most serious threat to his political standing and clearing the way for negotiations that could bring the Labor Party into his coalition government. The decision is also expected to lend new momentum to Sharon's plans to withdraw Israeli forces and settlers from the Gaza Strip, which had been slowed by factional infighting. The attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, said in a long statement on television that he would not file any charges against Sharon or his son, Gilad, who was also under investigation. "The case against Ariel Sharon and Gilad Sharon must be closed due to the lack of sufficient evidence," Mazuz said. "The evidence in this case does not bring us even remotely close to a reasonable possibility of conviction." Sharon, who has denied wrongdoing, did not comment. Sharon still faces another long-running corruption investigation, and there was no indication when prosecutors might complete that inquiry. But for the moment, his fortunes appear to have brightened. |
| Posted by:Steve White |