Taiwan opposition leader to be indicted: report

Ma Ying-jeou, seen as the front-runner for 2008 presidential polls, will be charged with embezzling around 11 million Taiwan dollars.

Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou, seen as the front-runner for next year's presidential election, was to be indicted later Tuesday for corruption, local news reports said.

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Taiwan television stations said Ma, head of the Kuomintang (KMT) party, would be charged with embezzling around 11 million Taiwan dollars (333,330 US) during his eight-year tenure as mayor of the capital, Taipei.

Ma has previously said he would resign as chairman of the KMT if he were indicted.

He said last year that one of his aides had forged receipts while filing Ma's expenses claims but denied there had been embezzlement.