tattoo empek empek: Murdochs to be questioned over phone hacking

News International boss Rupert Murdoch and his son James Murdoch have agreed to appear before a parliamentary committee investigating hacking and bribery allegations.

The pair initially refused to testify but have now confirmed they will appear next Tuesday. Murdoch's chief executive Rebekah Brooks will also be questioned.

The contamination from the scandal is spreading, with News Limited in Australia conducting its own investigation into possible dodgy dealings

There are also concerns in the US that similar practices have been used, with one senator calling for an investigation on whether Murdoch's reporters may have hacked the phone numbers of 9/11 victims.

It will be the first time the Murdochs have been questioned on the phone-hacking scandal, which forced the closure British paper News of the World.

Murdoch yesterday withdrew his bid for British TV giant BSkyB.

The news comes as British police investigating the scandal have confirmed the arrest of another man in relation to the scandal, named by media as the paper's former deputy editor.

The 60-year-old is the ninth man to be arrested since the inquiry was reopened this year.

He was held at an address in London on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

Police refused to name him but Sky News, also part of the News Corp media empire, and other media said it was Neil Wallis, the former deputy editor of the News of the World.

TV pictures later showed him being driven away from a west London police station

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said it had hired Wallis as a consultant from October 2009 until September 2010, an embarrassment for a force facing questions about its links to tabloid reporters.

Police are investigating allegations 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 child murders and the 2005 London bombings, to listen to their voicemail messages.

The scandal dates back to 2005-6 when the News of the World's royal reporter Clive Goodman and a private detective were arrested and later jailed for snooping on the voicemail messages of royal aides.

Police are also investigating claims police officers were bribed by journalists to provide information.

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.

Wallis was the deputy editor under Coulson until he quit following the conviction of Goodman, and went on to become the paper's executive editor before leaving in 2009.

Those arrested have been bailed until October and criminal charges are not expected before then.