A leading figure in Japan's governing party, Ichiro Ozawa, says he will not resign despite a growing scandal over political funding.

日本统治党领袖人物小泽一郎称，自己不会因政治资金丑闻而辞职。

Ichiro Ozawa, whose father was an MP, is a political veteran

Police have now arrested three aides to Mr Ozawa, Secretary-General of the Democratic Party (DPJ), seen by many as Japan's most influential¹ politician.

Mr Ozawa admits misunderstandings over a suspicious可疑的，怀疑的 land deal but insists he has done nothing wrong.

The DPJ民主党 came to power in September but has been dogged跟踪，尾随 by corruption³ claims.

Mr Ozawa, who as secretary-general is second in command of the DPJ, lashed⁴ out at Tokyo prosecutors⁵ after they arrested his third aide on Friday.

"I will stay on to fulfil my given duty, and squarely fight against such an exercise of power [by prosecutors]," he said.

"Our funds have nothing to do with money that is illegal."

The BBC's Roland Buerk, in Tokyo, says Mr Ozawa is so powerful in the DPJ that some have called him the "Shadow Shogun幕府时代的将军".

He is credited with engineering last year's election victory which ended half a century of conservative dominance.

Since then, the government has leaned heavily on his skills as a combative⁶ backroom暗中的，私下的 deal maker⁷, our correspondent says.

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The allegations surround Mr Ozawa's political fundraising organisation⁸ and its purchase of a plot of land in the capital Tokyo.

Prosecutors are investigating the origin of about 400m yen⁹ ($4m; £2.7m) used to buy the land in 2004.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has said he is standing² by Mr Ozawa.

"Secretary-General Ozawa has said that he has not broken any laws. As the leader of the Democratic Party, I believe in Secretary-General Ozawa," he said.

Mr Hatoyama has himself been caught up in an alleged¹⁰ scandal over funding.

In December he apologised after two former aides were charged with misreporting millions of dollars of donations.

Correspondents say claims of corruption and financial scandal will erode侵蚀，腐蚀 support for the government, which is under huge pressure to rescue Japan's ailing¹² economy病态经济.

Parliament will convene¹³聚集，召集 on Monday to begin debating the largest budget in Japan's history.

The country's debt is already the largest in the developed world.