Tel Aviv  - Israeli police grilled new Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for seven hours Thursday, as part on a years-long investigation centering around allegations of fraud, money-laundering, bribery and breech of trust, police said.

A further round of questioning is scheduled to take place at a later date. Lieberman took over the foreign minister portfolio Wednesday, and Thursday's interrogation had been scheduled days in advance.

Lieberman is suspected of using bank accounts in Cyprus registered to his daughter's name for money laundering purposes, and possibly to also carry out fraud and bribery offenses.

Lieberman has filed an appeal against the ongoing investigation against him, saying it has been unnecessarily prolonged, without any decisions being made by the prosecutors. In mid-March the Supreme Court gave investigators 60 days to to finalize their conclusions. dpa