MIDDLE EAST: Investigators seized computers and documents from Israeli president Moshe Katsav's residence and will question him about allegations that he coerced a former employee into having sex with him, the police said yesterday.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said investigators visited Mr Katsav's Jerusalem home on Monday and "confiscated some computers and documents in order to continue the ongoing investigation". He said members of the investigating team would return today to question the president directly. Mr Katsav has denied the allegations and a spokeswoman said the president was co-operating fully with the investigation.
The scandal was unlikely to have any significant political effects as Mr Katsav's post is largely ceremonial. However, the allegations against Mr Katsav and the justice minister, Haim Ramon, who resigned on Sunday following allegations that he sexually harassed a female soldier, have darkened the public mood in Israel, where many were already questioning their leaders' conduct of a costly month-long war in Lebanon.