File Photo(Xinhua/AFP)

    NEW YORK, March 27 (Xinhuanet) -- An Israeli television said that Israel's prosecutors will recommend to indict Prime Minister Ariel Sharon concerning a corruption case, CNN reported Saturday.

    The report said State Attorney Edna Arbelhe had reached a decision after concluding that there were sufficient grounds to charge Sharon with bribery in connection with a real estate deal involving Sharon's son and a land developer linked to his Likud party. Enditem

Israeli state prosecutor to recommend indicting Sharon on bribery charges

   JERUSALEM, March 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli State Prosecutor EdnaArbel is to submit recommendations to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon be indicted on the chargesof accepting bribes from a businessman, Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported Sunday.

   The recommendations will be given on Sunday or Monday, the report said.

   The final decision on whether to indict Sharon on the bribery charges rests with Mazuz, who is expected to rule on the matter next month.

   As soon as Mazuz receives Arbel's recommendation, the attorney general will consult legal officials before reaching his decision on the case, according to the report.

   Officials of Sharon's office refused Saturday night to respond to local media reports on the case. However, sources close to Sharon said they were not surprised by Arbel's decision. 

   Ophir Pines-Paz, a Labor Party member of Knesset (Parliament), said on Saturday night that Arbel's recommendation counted as one of the most significant decisions ever reached by the State Prosecutor's Office.

   "The government attorney general cannot ignore the state prosecutor's recommendation," Paz insisted. "And if there is an indictment, Sharon will have to resign immediately."

   Shinui Member of Knesset Reshef Chayne said if an indictment comes, "I expect that Sharon would suspend himself until the end ofthe trial, and the trial should be held as quickly as possible."

   In the bribery case, dubbed "the Greek Island affair,"businessman David Appel is alleged to have paid Gilad Sharon, the prime minister's son, nearly 700,000 US dollars in the late 1990s for his work as part of a consulting team in developing a vast tourism project in the Greek islands at a time when his father was foreign minister.

   It is alleged that Appel's aim of employing Gilad was to gain influence of his father to lobby Greece to approve the project. According to the evidence obtained by police, Appel continued paying Gilad even when it was evident that the Greek island planwas going nowhere, so Sharon could allegedly continue helping Appel with his real estate deals.

   Sharon has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the affair, saying he was unaware of the business transactions carried out byhis son.

   Arbel has reached the conclusion that Sharon could not have been unaware of the business connections which Appel maintained with hisson. In more than one recorded conversation, Appel informed Sharonthat his son would earn large amounts of money by working with him.

   According to the Basic Law on the Government in Israel, anindictment against a prime minister is to be submitted by the attorney general to the Jerusalem District Court.

   Under the law, the attorney general has independent authority to decide about indictments. The law instructs the attorney general to consider carefully whether there is "sufficient evidence" warranting a trial against a prime minister.  Enditem