AP: President Moshe Katsav Asks To Be Temporarily Removed From Office

[Hissyspit]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/APNEWSALERT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

Jan 24, 8:25 AM EST
AP News Alert
JERUSALEM (AP) -- A spokesman for the Israeli parliament says President Moshe Katsav has asked to be temporarily removed from office.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ISRAEL_PRESIDENT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

Jan 24, 8:29 AM EST
Israeli President Urged to Resign

By RAVI NESSMAN
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) -- A spokesman for the Israeli parliament says President Moshe Katsav has asked to be temporarily removed from office. Israel's politically powerful justice minister meantime led the growing chorus of calls Wednesday for Katsav to resign as charges of rape and abuse of power loom.

Attorney-General Meni Mazuz notified the president on Tuesday that he planned to indict him, but would first give Katsav, who has maintained silence since, an opportunity to plead his case before him. Katsav, 61, has said he is innocent of assaulting the four women who have accused him. His lawyers hope to use the hearing before Mazuz to persuade him to drop his plans to press charges.

While Katsav is innocent until proven guilty, "he should not be waging the battle to prove his innocence from the president's office," Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who also serves as foreign minister, said in a statement.

"Minister Livni is convinced that resignation would be the appropriate action at this time," the statement said.

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[Eugene]

1. Olmert calls for Katsav resignation (AP)

Olmert calls for Katsav resignation

By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer

37 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on President Moshe Katsav to resign,
as charges of rape and abuse of power loomed Wednesday. Katsav asked parliament to
temporarily remove him from office in an effort to blunt growing calls for his resignation.

"Under these circumstances, there is no doubt in my mind that the president cannot continue
to fulfill his position and he must leave the president's residence," sai Olmert, himself under an
unrelated criminal investigation.

At a stormy, emotional news conference at his official residence, Katsav blamed Israeli media
for his plight, using terms like "witch hunt," "McCarthyism" and "persecution." He shouted at a
local TV reporter, pounding on the podium and gesturing angrily during a rambling diatribe that
lasted nearly an hour.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070124/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_president