Scandal spreads

Four past and present senior police officers appeared before a home affairs committee in London on Tuesday to face questions about phone-hacking allegations related to newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch's bid to take over BSkyB now hangs in the balance.

Parliamentarians asked them why the initial inquiry into phone-hacking and corruption allegations, begun in 2005, failed to uncover evidence of hacking of crime victims' voicemail messages.

Scotland Yard, which is leading inquiries into the hacking and corruption allegations, joined the fray with an unusual statement on Monday, condemning some media reports as part of a "deliberate" attempt to undermine the probe.

It said they had agreed with News International and their lawyers to keep certain information confidential.

Serious allegations

Reporters working for Rupert Murdoch's British media operation News International may have hacked former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown's phone and breached his bank account, police said on Monday.

The allegations widen the scandal that began with revelations that the tabloid News of the World, also owned by Murdoch's media empire, hacked the phones of celebrities, the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as murder victims.

The royal family was also allegedly targeted by News of the World. The BBC and other media outlets have said that a reporter working for the tabloid tried to pay security guards for phone numbers belonging to the royal family.

News of the World printed its last issue on Sunday after Murdoch ordered the 168-year-old publication shut down. News International also operates The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.

Police said that private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was working for News International, hacked Brown's phone and gained access to his back account. Brown was serving as the UK's finance minister at that time.

"Gordon Brown has been informed of the scale of intrusion into his family's life," Brown's spokesman said. "The family has been shocked by the level of criminality and the unethical means by which personal details have been obtained," he added. "The matter is in police hands."

Invasion of privacy

A man working for The Sunday Times allegedly posed as Brown in order to obtain the details of his account at Abbey National Bank in January of 2000, according to the BBC.

The Guardian newspaper also reported that The Sun obtained details from the medical records of Brown's infant son. The paper revealed in 2006 that Brown's son, Fraser, had cystic fibrosis.

Brown's wife, Sarah, said on her Twitter page that she was "so sad to learn all I am about my family's privacy - it is very personal and really hurtful if all true."

News International said that it had taken note of the allegations and intended to investigate them.

"So that we can investigate these matters further, we ask that all information concerning these allegations is provided to us," the company said in statement issued on Monday.

BSkyB deal jeopardized

Murdoch's bid to expand his global media empire, News Corporation, through a takeover of the pay-TV operator BSkyB has suffered a blow as the scandal surrounding his British newspapers spreads.

Prime Minister David Cameron's government announced that Murdoch's bid would be referred to Britain's Competition Commission, which is set to launch a lengthy probe of the pending deal.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt told parliament that he decided to refer the News Corporation bid after Murdoch withdrew his previous offer to split off Sky News from BSkyB. Murdoch made the offer last March to address concerns that he would gain to much power over media.

Prime Minister Cameron has come under pressure after police arrested former News of the World editor Andy Coulson on Friday. Coulson had previously worked as Cameron's media chief.

Cameron has said that Murdoch should focus on cleaning up his business before seeking to expand it.

"If I was running that company right now, with all the problems and the difficulties and the mess, frankly, that there is, I think they should be focused on clearing those up rather than on the next corporate move," Cameron said.

Author: Spencer Kimball, Joanna Impey (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Michael Lawton