Israeli PM Olmert accuses police of probe leaks

By Avida Landau and Dan Williams

LOD, Israel (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accused Israeli police on Saturday of leaking parts of a newly-revealed investigation into whether he committed fraud by submitting duplicate travel expense claims.

"The reports and the leaks that emerged a short time after the questioning constitute a grave breach of acceptable norms," Olmert told reporters on board a plane as he was about to embark for a Mediterranean Union summit in Paris.

"I was amazed by those distorted statements coming from members of law enforcement apparatus ... This could only harm the public's trust," Olmert said.

He also condemned police for "the attempt to connect my family in any way," to the case.

On Friday, police said they suspected Olmert's travel agent sent invoices to various public bodies to cover Olmert's trips when he was mayor of Jerusalem and then trade minister. The result was a duplication of incoming funds, with the surplus being placed in an account used to fund Olmert and his family's private travel.

Olmert's attorney Navot Tel-Zur denied his client used public money to cover his family's travel expenses and said Olmert rejected the allegations "with both hands".

Earlier, a long-time Olmert aide who managed his travel, defended him against the accusation.

"The prime minister is not a thief and not a cheat," Rachel Risby-Raz said in a written statement a day after Olmert was quizzed by police -- his third interrogation since being accused of corruption in May.

Previously he admitted taking cash from an American financier. He denied wrongdoing, describing it as campaign donations, but said he would resign if indicted.

Risby-Raz, who said she had also been questioned but was not a suspect, also said: "He did not put a shekel in his own pocket and did not use public funds for his family."

It was a rare, outspoken vote of confidence for Olmert, who has been forced to agree to a leadership election within his centrist Kadima party in September in order to appease allies in Kadima and in his main coalition partner, the Labour party.

Israeli media said AKIM Israel, a charity that supports the mentally disabled and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum were among the organizations Olmert allegedly defrauded.

AKIM's chairman Reuven Samuel, said that if Olmert were convicted, "I will tell Mr. Olmert to look in the mirror and see what kind of person he sees."

STRATEGY?

Among those Olmert will meet in Paris are French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.