Ex-Murdoch aide Rebekah Brooks arrested in hacking

LONDON (AP):

London police arrested Rebekah Brooks, Rupert Murdoch's former British CEO, in the phone hacking and police bribery scandal Sunday, bringing the United Kingdom investigation into Murdoch's inner circle for the first time.

Brooks, 43, was arrested at a London police station at noon Sunday. The former editor of Murdoch's News of the World tabloid is being questioned on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications - phone hacking - and on suspicion of corruption, which relates to bribing police for information.

A statement released on Brooks' behalf said she "voluntarily attended a London police station to assist with their ongoing investigation."

Sunday's arrest comes just days before Brooks, Murdoch and his son James are due to be grilled by a UK parliamentary committee investigating the hacking. The arrest throws Brooks' appearance before Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport committee into question; she would not have to answer questions that could prejudice a criminal investigation.

Brook's spokesman, David Wilson, said Sunday's appointment with police was prearranged on Friday but said she was not aware she was going to be arrested.

"Obviously this complicates matters greatly," Wilson said. "Her legal team will have to have discussions with the committee to see whether it would still be appropriate for her to attend."

Brooks, one of Murdoch's most loyal lieutenants, stepped down Friday as head of his British newspaper arm, News International. She was editor of the now-defunct News of the World between 2000 and 2003 when some of the phone hacking took place, but has always said she did not know that hacking was going on. That claim has been greeted with skepticism by many who worked there.

At an appearance before lawmakers in 2003, Brooks admitted that News International had paid police for information - an admission of possible illegal activity that went largely unchallenged at the time.

Police have already arrested nine other people connected to Murdoch's British media empire over allegations that the News of the World hacked into the phone voice mails of hundreds of celebrities, politicians, rival journalists and even murder victims. No one has yet been charged.

The arrest also piles more pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron, a friend and neighbour of Brooks, who has met with her many times and invited her to stay at his official country retreat.

Cameron is already under fire for hiring Andy Coulson, who resigned as News of the World editor after two employees were jailed for corruption in 2007, as his communications chief. Coulson resigned from Downing Street in January after police reopened their hacking investigation. He was arrested last week and questioned before being released on bail.

Brooks' arrest is another blow for Murdoch, who is struggling to tame a scandal that has already destroyed one of his British newspapers, cost the jobs of two of his senior executives and sunk his dream of taking full control of a lucrative satellite broadcaster, British Sky Broadcasting.

Second newspaper ad

On Sunday, Murdoch took out a second newspaper ad promising that News Corp will make amends for the phone hacking scandal. The ad in several UK Sunday newspapers, titled "Putting right what's gone wrong," said News Corp. would assist the British police investigations into phone hacking and police bribery. It vowed there would be "be no place to hide" for wrongdoers.

"It may take some time for us to rebuild trust and confidence, but we are determined to live up to the expectations of our readers, colleagues and partners," the ad said.

That follows a full-page Murdoch ad in Saturday's UK papers declaring, "We are sorry."

Last week Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old News of the World after it was accused of eavesdropping on cell phones for years. Sunday was the first day in Britain that the popular, gossipy, muckraking weekly was not on the newsstands.

Murdoch also abandoned his BSkyB takeover bid, and two of his senior executives resigned - Brooks and Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton.

But Murdoch's critics say that is not enough. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said Sunday that Murdoch has "too much power" in Britain and his share of British media ownership should be reduced. With the News of the World gone, Murdoch now owns three national British newspapers - The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times - and a 39 per cent share of BSkyB.

"I think that we've got to look at the situation whereby one person can own more than 20 per cent of the newspaper market, the Sky platform and Sky News," Miliband told The Observer newspaper.

"I think it's unhealthy because that amount of power in one person's hands has clearly led to abuses of power within his organisation. If you want to minimise the abuses of power then that kind of concentration of power is frankly quite dangerous," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg agreed there should be greater plurality in the British media.

"A healthy press is a diverse one, where you've got lots of different organisations competing, and that's exactly what we need," Clegg told the BBC.

Clegg's Liberal Democrat party has asked Britain's broadcast regulator to consider whether News Corp. is a "fit and proper" owner of BSkyB - if not, Murdoch's current stake in BskyB could be in danger.