Israel auditor wants Olmert investigated over favours

JERUSALEM, Apr 25 (Reuters) Israel's state auditor has recommended police investigate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on suspicion of illicitly arranging investment opportunities for friends while in a previous cabinet post, officials said today.

State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss made the recommendation in a letter submitted to Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz, who is responsible for ordering high-level investigations and prosecutions, the Justice Ministry said.

The suspicions centre on Olmert's tenure as industry and trade minister under former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, when he oversaw a government-level ''investment centre''.

Olmert, who has sparred with Lindenstrauss over a slew of impropriety allegations, denies wrongdoing in the latest case.

''The prime minister has lost faith in the state comptroller,'' Olmert's office said in a statement. ''We have no doubt that this 'affair', like all the other 'affairs' which were looked into by the state comptroller and ended in nothing, will blow away like foam on the surface of water.'' REUTERS RS BD2050