Brasilia - The former government official for parliamentary liaison, Waldomiro Diniz, who was fired on February 13, after it was discovered he negotiated payoffs with a numbers game kingpin, was interrogated by police yesterday. The interrogation lasted three hours, but Diniz answered only one question, saying he was a civil servant. The rest of the questions he refused to answer, saying he would do so only under oath.

Federal prosecutors sent the federal police a list of 15 questions. Diniz did not answer any of them. As he left the police station he told reporters he was the person most interested in clearing up any doubts about what he was doing. "I want to establish the truth. I believe in this investigation," he declared. (AB)