Murdoch to testify

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his son James have opted to face questioning by a parliamentary media committee over a phone-hacking scandal that brought down his British tabloid, the News of the World.

Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, had already agreed to talk to the committee. She will appear before the hearing next week. The 43-year-old was editor of the News of the World when some of the most serious hacking allegations were supposed to have taken place. She denies any knowledge of the offenses.

Murdoch, who initially said he could not attend, but would send his son James at a later date, recanted later on Thursday, after the parliamentary committee issued a summons for them. Although both Murdochs are American citizens and not bound by law to submit to such a summons, it became clear through Thursday that it would be wiser to cooperate.

"If they have any shred of sense of responsibility, of accountability for their position of power, then they should come and explain themselves before a select committee," Clegg said on Thursday.

The furor over the hacking affair led to the closure of the popular weekly News of the World and forced Murdoch to drop a takeover bid for satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

Another arrest

Police in Britain made a ninth arrest in the case Thursday, a person identified by the media as the former deputy editor of News of the World.

The 60-year-old was held at an address in London on suspicion of "conspiring to intercept communications."

Police are investigating allegations that journalists on the now-defunct paper hacked the phones of members of the royal family, politicians and celebrities, as well as victims of crime, including a 13-year-old schoolgirl who went missing and was later found dead, and relatives of the victims the 2005 London bombings, to listen to their voice mail messages.

Last week, detectives arrested the paper's former editor Andy Coulson, who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron's media chief before resigning in January.

In April, the paper's chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, one of its senior reporters James Weatherup and Ian Edmondson, a former senior editor who was sacked after an internal inquiry into his conduct, were questioned about the claims.

The officer leading the inquiry told lawmakers on Tuesday that those arrested so far had been bailed until October and she did not expect any possible criminal charges before then.

Author: Gregg Benzow, Joanna Impey (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler