Israel's attorney general has decided not to file charges against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and former aides in a campaign funding scandal.
Foreign funding of political campaigns is illegal in Israel.
An indictment of Sharon could have jeopardised his 'disengagement' plan after parliament yesterday removed a major hurdle by approving compensation to Jewish settlers to be evacuated from occupied land in Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
Mr Sharon's son and close adviser Omri, aged 40, was indicted on criminal charges including fraud, breach of trust and perjury. He could face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
Mr Sharon had denied any wrongdoing in the funding case, saying his two sons alone handled financing for his 1999 primary campaign for leadership of the right-wing Likud party.
Prosecutors will have to ask the Knesset to lift parliamentary immunity for Omri Sharon, a member of the assembly, to put him on trial.
Sharon and his sons still face a separate but related investigation into accusations that a $1.5m loan from a South African businessman was used as collateral to repay what prosecutors say were illicit contributions to his primary race.
