James Murdoch Refuses To Rule Out Closure Of 'The Sun' Tabloid

LONDON: Embattled News International head James Murdoch has refused to rule out closing down Britain's best-selling tabloid, 'The Sun', if the phone hacking scandal spreads to it.

James, the son of News Corporation chief Rupert Murdoch, made the comment yesterday as he faced a day of questioning from British MPs over previous evidence he gave to Parliament about the phone-hacking scandal involving the now-defunct 'News of the World' tabloid.

The News International head, who was at one point compared to a mafia boss by one British MP, denied misleading lawmakers when he told them in July this year that he was unaware of the infamous "for Neville" email which implicated other reporters at the 'News of the World' in hacking.

Though he admitted that he had been told about an email, James said he was not told at all that the email was titled "for Neville" or that the email contained evidence that other journalists at the paper were involved in hacking.

However, when it was asked about the conduct of other newspapers in the News International stable, James refused to rule out closing down 'The Sun', 'The Daily Telegraph' said.

Steve Rotheram, an MP, claimed 'The Sun' is mentioned in the notes of Glenn Mulcaire, the private detective jailed for phone hacking in 2007.

The MP asked Murdoch: "If this particular publication is implicated in phone hacking and it is revealed that The Sun does appear in the Mulcaire file, will you close that paper like you did with the News of the World."

Murdoch said he did not want to pre judge the outcome of any investigation before adding, "I do not think we can rule or I should not rule any corporate reaction to behaviour of wrongdoing out. That will be a decision taken at the time given whatever is out there."

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