Tel Aviv, Sept 14: A Tel Aviv district court today allowed Gilan Sharon, a son of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to withhold documents linked to a police investigation of illegal financing, court sources said. Gilan Sharon has refused to answer questions over a 1.5-million-dollar loan which he received from a South African businessman, Cyril Kern, who has been described as a personal friend of the Prime Minister.

The premier used the funds to return illegal contributions for his 1999 campaign for leadership of the right-wing Likud Party. A lower court had denied Gilan Sharon the "right to remain silent" and not to hand over financial documents, but his appeal against the ruling was upheld by the district court.

The Prime Minister brushed off corruption allegations against his family at a news conference last January, saying they were "scornful libel" while he himself refrained from answering several questions.

His other son, Omri, who is also an MP with the Likud, has also been interrogated by Israeli Police.
Bureau Report