Free Republic

Blackwater involved in Bhutto and Hariri hits: former Pakistani army chief Tehran Times Political Desk TEHRAN - Pakistan’s former chief of army staff, General Mirza Aslam Beg (ret.), has said the U.S. private security company Blackwater was directly involved in the assassinations of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto and former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Blackwater later changed its name and is now known as Xe. General Beg recently told the Saudi Arabian daily Al Watan that former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf had given Blackwater the green light to carry out terrorist operations in the cities of Islamabad, Rawalpindi,...

Rebekah Brooks, the former News of the World editor who resigned as chief executive of News International at the height of the phone-hacking scandal, received £1.7m in cash, the use of a London office and a chauffeur-driven limousine as part of her severance package from the newspaper group. Brooks, a favourite of Rupert Murdoch who rose from being a secretary on the features desk of the Sunday newspaper to the very top of the mogul's UK operation, quit in July amid claims over the alleged illegal activities carried out by her executives and reporters. Days after she resigned, she was...

John Yates, the under-fire assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police tendered his resignation on Monday afternoon amid reports he was about to be suspended pending ongoing investigations into the phone-hacking investigation. The move follows the resignation of his boss Sir Paul Stephenson, who quit as Met commissioner on Sunday evening. MPs said they were seeking to ask Mr Yates further questions on the relationship between police and News International. Boris Johnson, mayor of London, later held a press conference at which he said “both decisions [to resign] were regrettable but in both cases, the right choice has been made.” He...

Murdoch Folds News Of The World Over Hacking This Sunday's News Of The World will be the last ever issue of the tabloid, News International chairman James Murdoch has announced. He said this newspaper would not run any commercial adverts this weekend, adding the advertising space would be donated to causes and charities.