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Disgraced president to resign
29/06/2007 09:38 - (SA)
Jerusalem - Disgraced Israeli president Moshe Katsav was on Friday expected to tender his resignation one day after he signed a controversial plea bargain for sexual offences, sources said.
Katsav, who temporarily suspended himself from duty in January in the wake of the investigation, will hand the letter of resignation to parliament speaker Dalia Itzik by Friday afternoon, her spokesperson told AFP.
He will end his full seven-year term in office some two weeks before Nobel prize laureate Shimon Peres takes office as his successor, having been elected Israel's ninth president earlier this month.
The 61-year-old Iranian-born president on Thursday signed a plea bargain under which he admitted to a series of sex offences, including harassment and indecent acts but which dropped two rape charges, sparking a wave of protest.
The bargain will nonetheless see the scandal-ridden Katsav become Israel's first head of state go to court for sex offences.
Katsav agreed to a suspended prison sentence and a fine of $11 000 in damages but dodged a possible jail term if convicted of rape.
The deal has been slammed as an injustice by the prosecution, women's activists and the local media.
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