Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for 4 hours Tuesday as a witness in a bribery investigation against a longtime aide.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Olmert was questioned by the police's unit in charge of bribery investigations. He said Olmert was not a suspect in the case against Shula Zaken.

"Olmert gave testimony for four hours in the fraud investigation in the Tax Authority scandal," Rosenfeld said.

Police suspect that Zaken, Olmert's longtime personal assistant, arranged jobs in the Israeli Tax Authority in return for tax breaks for her brother. The case is part of a wider investigation against senior tax officials who are suspected of granting tax breaks to businessmen in exchange for bribes.

Zaken has been suspended from her job for six months while police conduct their investigation.

"The prime minister gave testimony today to police concerning his period as minister of finance," said an official in Olmert's office, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Olmert served as finance minister before becoming prime minister in January 2006.

During his long political career, Olmert has been dogged by allegations of corruption, but never charged. Currently, police are investigating his real-estate dealings and his role in the government's sale of a majority interest in a bank while he was finance minister in 2005.

The Zaken case is the latest in a series of scandals involving Israeli public officials.
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Olmert's finance minister has been accused of embezzlement and his justice minister was forced to resign and convicted of sexual misconduct for forcibly kissing a young female soldier.

During a recent interview, Olmert complained that he felt he and his associates were being hounded by a "platoon of investigators."

In another case, President Moshe Katsav is facing possible indictment on charges of rape and other serious offenses against employees. Katsav has denied all wrongdoing.

(China Daily via agencies April 11, 2007)