Unless former MK Azmi Bishara returns to Israel for a police interview within a reasonable period of time he may be declared a "fugitive from justice," police sources said on Thursday.

However, this definition is essentially irrelevant in Bishara's case: declaring him a fugitive from justice is meant to assist the police in locating criminals who are not public figures and who are trying to flee the country.

"Bishara is a famous person in Israel, and therefore it will be difficult to pass through border crossings [without being noticed]," a police source said.

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A document released on Thursday to the media on the Bishara investigation implies that the police will arrest him when he returns to Israel, as he no longer enjoys parliamentary immunity.

Bishara resigned from the Knesset at the Israeli embassy in Cairo earlier this week.

He said Thursday that he does not see any possibility of receiving a fair trial in Israel.

In an interview with Nazareth's Radio Shams, Bishara said that "we do not believe that in this atmosphere of incitement ... we will have a fair trial."

He also said he does not fear the kind of heavy punishment meted out to those convicted of the serious crimes he allegedly committed.

According to Bishara, senior Israeli officials are the ones that should be tried for war crimes they commited against Lebanese and Palestinians.

"In July [2006] they killed children in Lebanon. I remember my tears and people's tears over those children. Eight months later they come to me. What, have they become pure over this time? Were they baptized? Found God? They want to judge the one who condemned the aggression against Lebanon, and that is not acceptable."

Earlier this week the authorities permitted the media to report that Bishara is suspected of serious security violations, including assistance to the enemy in time of war, passing information to an enemy and contacts with a foreign agent.

In five days the gag order preventing complete coverage of the investigation into Bishara will be lifted.

Bishara denies all the allegations and said Thursday that Hezbollah has more military intelligence on Israel than he does.

"Who is kept away from such information more than Israeli Arabs?"

In recent months the defense establishment has wrestled with ways to deal with the Bishara investigation. This included the possibility that he will be brought to trial and jailed, which may be seen in the Arab community as persecution of a former MK, turning him into a political martyr.

A source involved in the investigation suggested that Bishara might have been allowed to leave the country at the end of two police interviews to neutralize the political aspects of the investigation against him.

An ordinary citizen investigated for similar suspicions would have been immediately arrested.

"Bishara in an Israeli prison will become a hero, and this he cannot achieve as a fugitive from justice," the sources said.

During the interview, Bishara also spoke of his personal considerations, saying he missed his family very much and that he is not sure when he will see them again.