Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon said today the corruption allegations hanging over him amounted to "shameful political slander" which he would prove to be false, public radio reported.
"This is a shameful political slander and I will prove it, by facts and documents," Mr Sharon told the radio in his first public reaction to allegations in the press of financial misdealings by him and his family.
"Whoever is behind this has but one goal: to overthrow a prime minister," he said, without elaborating.
The allegations centre on a $1.5-million bank guarantee he and his sons reportedly secured from a South African businessman to cover debts he was obliged to pay back for illegal campaign contributions run up during his 1999 Likud leadership race.
Israel's Attorney General Mr Eliakim Rubenstein said he would investigate the leaking of details of the probe into Sharon and his sons to the Israeli daily Haaretz, which broke the story, the radio said.
Mr Rubenstein said it was not normal to investigate a leak, but this case was an exception as the leak was "very serious", disrupted the investigation and was done at the height of the election campaign", the radio quoted him as saying.
A poll released today showed that 31 per cent of Israelis consider Mr Sharon unfit to stay on as premier after the scandal. It was the first time his personal popularity has been hit despite a series of damaging corruption affairs dogging his right-wing Likud party in the run-up to Israel's January 28th general election.
AFP