London: Two men have been arrested as part
of an investigation into phone hacking at one of Britain's
best-selling tabloids, British police said on Tuesday.
Metropolitan Police said two men, aged 50 and 42, were
arrested at separate police stations in London on suspicion of
unlawfully intercepting voicemail messages. They declined to
name the men, who remain in custody for questioning.
The arrests are the first since police reopened a
criminal inquiry into phone tapping at the News of The World
following fresh allegations from celebrities, such as Sienna
Miller, who have accused the paper of illegal hacking and
harassment.
Britain's Guardian newspaper named the men as the News
of The World's chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and former
news editor Ian Edmondson, who was suspended and then fired
amid the fresh claims.
The News of The World has been at the centre of the
scandal since a reporter and a private investigator employed
by the title were caught illegally eavesdropping on the phones
of the British royal family's entourage.
The pair were convicted in 2007, but News of the World
executives have long insisted that they were the only ones
responsible for the tapping operation, a claim dismissed as
implausible by the paper's critics.
The News of The World declined to comment today's
arrests.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, April 05, 2011, 22:16