Politician's soothsayer bill is $7,700

OSLO, Norway -- A Norwegian Labor Party politician took voluntary sick leave last week and said she wouldn't seek re-election after running up big phone bills at Parliament's expense by turning to an unusual set of advisers: fortune tellers.

Saera Khan's mobile phone habits became known after Parliament said it would no longer cover her bills, which Norway's largest newspaper, Verdens Gang said hit 48,000 kroner ($7,740), in one three-month period.

"Advice from fortune tellers has not influenced the Labor party's work in Parliament," Labor's parliamentary leader Hill-Marta Solberg said in announcing Khan's leave.

Khan released a statement late Wednesday confirming news reports that her bills were so high because she called pay-by-the-minute fortune tellers 793 times in one nine-month period. She said she paid back the amount.