Jerusalem - Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for a fourth time Friday on two alleged corruption affairs in which he is suspected of being implicated.

The questioning lasted for 45 minutes minutes longer than the scheduled two hours, Israel Radio reported, and the premier was confronted with documents relating to charges he double-, and even triple-, billed sponsors for overseas visits, and used the extra money to pay for trips for his family.

Tel Aviv - An overwhelming number of Israelis think Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was right to announce his intention to step down from the premiership, a poll published Friday revealed.

A massive 91 per cent of respondents in the poll in the Ma'ariv daily said Olmert made the right decision when he said Wednesday night that he would resign once his Kadima party chose a new leader on September 17.

Jerusalem - Israel's anti-corruption unit has said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's announcement that he will step down in September will not affect the ongoing corruption probe against him, Israeli media reported Thursday.

Police detectives probing a string of corruption allegations against Olmert are due to question him again on Friday over some of them.

"The investigation continues as normal. Detectives will question Olmert on Friday at his residence irrespective," a spokeswoman for the National Fraud Unit was quoted as saying in the Jerusalem Post daily.

Jerusalem - Two of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's top aides were Tuesday en route to Turkey for a fourth round of indirect peace negotiations with Syria, Israel radio 
reported.

Yoram Turbovich and Shalom Turgeman wanted to proceed with the talks on arrival, the report said.

The latest round is to cover how the two former enemies can move on from the phase of indirect talks to direct talks, Syrian government officials have said.

Jerusalem - An Israeli-Palestinian peace deal that would also settle the disputed status of Jerusalem was unlikely to be signed by the year's end, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday, but added that gaps on other key issues were bridgeable.

"I do not believe we can reach understandings this year which will include the subject of Jerusalem," he told a parliamentary committee dealing with foreign affairs and security.

"As regards the other core issues - the gaps are not dramatic," the Ynet news site quoted him as saying.

Jerusalem - The key witness in the corruption case against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared in court again Wednesday for a fifth day of cross-examination by the premier's legal team over allegations he made in May that Olmert over years accepted tens of thousands of dollars in cash from him.

The 75-year-old Jewish American businessman and fundraiser Morris Talansky sighed as he entered the Jerusalem District Court to face more tough questions from lawyers who are keen to discredit him.