Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Thursday afternoon finished a seven-hour testimony before a government-appointed committee, which is charged with investigating into Israel's failures in the Lebanon war last summer, local media said.

"The testimony was topical. He answered every question in great detail and presented the committee transcripts with the government, cabinet and security consultations," Olmert's office was quoted by local Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper as saying.

In his testimony before the Winograd Committee, Olmert was asked about the military actions that were carried out in Lebanon after reaching the ceasefire agreement. He was also questioned about the captive soldiers and the leaks to the press from military and governmental officials during the war.

Olmert was the last one to testify before the committee at this stage, as the panel will embark on writing an interim report on its findings, which would not be published before mid-March.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)'s outgoing Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz was questioned by the Winograd Committee for almost seven hours last Sunday. He presented his version of the decision- making process during the Lebanon war and admitted that it was a definite mistake not to call up reserves earlier in the war.

On Wednesday, the committee heard testimony form IDF's Deputy Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky, Gadi Shamni and Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh.

Source: Xinhua