Panzeri

The police found 280,000 euros in cash at the home of the son of MEP Maria Arena, reported the Belgian newspaper "Le Soir", quoted by BTA.

The uniformed officers searched five other locations, all of which were "directly or indirectly connected to Arena or her family," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Greek MEP Eva Kaili, a suspect in connection with the "Qatargate" scandal, has been released from house arrest, AFP reported.

Belgian authorities have released two suspects in the Qatargate corruption scandal from house arrest on conditions.

Jailed Greek MEP Eva Kaili has appealed to the highest court of cassation in Belgium in a fresh attempt to secure release from pre-trial detention.

"We went to the supreme court, because in this way we manage to go from two months to one month in order to have the right to apply for a release from prison," her lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, said in a written statement.

A key suspect in a spreading EU graft scandal, former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, has cut a deal to divulge information about countries involved and bribes made, Belgian prosecutors said Tuesday.

Belgium's federal prosecutor said on Tuesday that former Italian member of the European Parliament Pier Antonio Panzeri agreed to work with Belgian authorities over a cash-for-influence corruption scandal in exchange for a reduced sentence.

An Italian court on Monday agreed to hand over to the Belgian authorities a second woman suspected of involvement in a Qatar graft scandal that has rocked the European Parliament.

An appeals court in the northern city of Brescia said Silvia Panzeri, 38, could be extradited, after having twice postponed a ruling pending a report on conditions in Belgian jails.

The main article of French daily Le Soir focuses on the Belgian MEP Marie Arena, in the investigation it is conducting on Qatargate. The MEP who belongs to the Socialist group has been in the press on other occasions for her possible involvement in the Qatargate scandal, however she is not included among the MEPs for whom the lifting of immunity was requested.