Police investigators left Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's official residence after grilling the Israeli prime minister in connection with a corruption scandal for some two-and-half hours Thursday as his deputy headed to Washington to brief the Bush administration on plans to evacuate the Jewish settlements of the Gaza Strip.
Members of the International Investigations Unit departed from Sharon's official residence in Jerusalem at around 1:30 pm (1130 GMT), national police spokesman Gil Kleiman said.
The commander of the unit, Yohanan Danino, led the questioning of the premier in Jerusalem in connection with the so-called Greek Island affair, Kleiman added.
Sharon was last interrogated in October, but Thursday's session came after the indictment last month of property developer David Appel on charges of trying to bribe Sharon when he was foreign minister.
Police sources said that Sharon did not exercise his right to silence but answered the questions of his interrogators.
If Sharon were to be charged himself, political commentators say he would have no choice but to resign from office. The final decision will come from the government's legal counsel Menahem Mazuz, who acts as the attorney general.
Several high-level officials at the justice ministry, including state prosecutor Edna Arbel, have come out in favor of Sharon's indictment.
Appel was indicted for allegedly trying to bribe Sharon through his son Gilad, along with deputy prime minister Ehud Olmert, then mayor of Jerusalem, in exchange for their help in securing a major Greek property deal.
Sharon has until now refused to answer specific questions about money given to his son by Appel, and recently said he had nothing to do with the scandal, which dates back to 1998.
At the time, Appel, a key figure behind the scenes in Likud, was planning a huge tourism project on a Greek island which needed authorization from Athens.
Appel tried to secure the help of Sharon and Olmert, both of whom were candidates for the Likud leadership, in exchange for financing their respective campaigns, the indictment said.
Tourism Minister Benny Elon, whose far-right National Union Party has threatened to quit the ruling coalition if Sharon forges ahead with his Gaza evacuation plan, said Thursday that the corruption scandal would weaken the premier's bid to sell the proposal to Washington.
"The prime minister will arrive in a weakened position in America and that will weaken the security of Israel," Elon told army radio.
Sharon is set to travel to the States for talks with President Geroge W. Bush later this month to explain his "disengagement plan" and defend Israel's West Bank separation barrier whose legality is to be judged by the International Court of Justice.
In a surprise move, Olmert flew out of Israel late Wednesday for Washington where he was expected to hold talks on Thursday with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Sharon was forced to send Olmert instead of Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who opposes a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza on the grounds that it would encourage Palestinian attacks.
The opposition to the proposals by the right-wing parties in his ruling coalition and members of his own party has prompted Sharon to consider calling a referendum on the issue, with polls showing that his plan enjoys the backing of a clear majority of Israelis.
Meanwhile the US State Department placed adverts in the Palestinian media Thursday offering up to five million dollars for information in connection with a probe into an October attack on a diplomatic convoy in Gaza that left three Americans dead.
The publication of the reward offer came a day after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's top security advisor Jibril al-Rajub accused the US of "blackmailing" the Palestinians by stopping their involvement in the peace process while awaiting the results of the investigation.
The State Department dismissed Rajub's claims as "ridiculous".
Blair blasts Britons over Iraq war