The British PM has been questioned by police for a second time over a 'cash-for-honours' probe clouding his final months in office.
LONDON: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been questioned by police for a second time over a 'cash-for-honours' probe clouding his final months in office, his Downing Street office said on Thursday.
The revelation came two days after a key aide to the British leader was re-arrested on suspicion of a cover-up over the alleged illicit funding of his governing Labour Party.
Blair, who became the first serving British premier to be questioned by police in December, was interviewed again last Friday -- as a witness rather than as a suspect, his office was quick to stress.
"Last Friday the prime minister was briefly interviewed by the police as a witness," said a Downing Street statement, adding that the questioning -- which lasted less than an hour -- was kept secret at the request of police.
The announcement came just two days after Lord Michael Levy, his Middle East envoy and chief fundraiser, was arrested for a second time in the probe.
Two weeks ago, another key figure close to Blair, Ruth Turner, director of government relations at his Downing Street office, was also arrested.
Levy was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice before being released on bail, while Turner was held on suspicion of breaching the Honours Act 1925 and perverting the course of justice.
Their arrests, as well as Blair's second round of questioning, have prompted speculation that the police investigation is snowballing towards a conclusion.
Blair's official spokesman said it was "a matter entirely for police" whether he would be questioned again, adding that the prime minister had not been accompanied by a lawyer.
Elfyn Llwyd, leader of Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru who was one of the lawmakers whose questions prompted the probe, said he thought police would hand a file in the case to prosecutors within the next month.
"I believe there will be some charges and they will be very close to Downing Street...this web actually finishes at 10 Downing Street," he told Sky News television.
Officers investigating the case requested a news blackout on the interview, which took place shortly before Blair attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This was only lifted Thursday.
In a brief statement, London's Metropolitan Police said they had interviewed Blair again to "clarify points emerging from the ongoing investigation".
Adding that he had "cooperated fully", the statement said that the meeting was kept secret "for operational reasons".
The so-called 'cash-for-honours' probe was launched last March and has seen Blair and his entire cabinet interviewed by detectives.
It is trying to establish if his Labour party and other parties illegally offered seats in Britain's unelected upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords, in return for financial assistance.
The affair is threatening to overshadow Blair's final months in office -- he has said he will stand down before September after 10 years in office.
His likely successor, finance minister Gordon Brown, has largely steered clear of being drawn into the affair, telling BBC television this week: "I believe when people see the full facts then they will be satisfied".
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