Calls to clairvoyants hang up politician's re-election plans
Oslo - A member of Norway's ruling Labour Party said Thursday she would not seek re-election to parliament next year after disclosures that she routinely placed calls to clairvoyants and fortune tellers at taxpayer expense.
Saera Khan, elected to the legislature in 2005, said in a statement late Wednesday she "regretted" that she had not disclosed the calls. She added that she had provided compensation for phone expenses that were over the average for a Norwegian member of parliament.
Khan, 29, of Oslo, had come under fire after racking up a huge phone bill on her parliament-issued mobile phone.
She informed the nominating committee of the Oslo section of the Labour Party of her decision shortly before a deadline expired Thursday.
Tabloid Verdens Gang was one of the media outlets that reported on the calls. It also reported that parliament had stopped paying her bills earlier this year.
Khan initially said she had phoned a friend serving with special forces abroad. She was forced to retract that story when the Norwegian military would not confirm it. (dpa)