Ex-policeman arrested in UK phone hacking probe

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

Demonstrators from the campaign group 'Avaaz' protest outside the Queen Elizabeth II centre in London, on November 29, 2011, as BSkyB hold their annual general meeting. AFP photo

British police probing the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World tabloid arrested a former Scotland Yard officer on Tuesday on suspicion of leaking information to a journalist.

The 52-year-old was arrested at his home in Berkshire, west of London, by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), and is currently in custody at a police station in the area, the IPCC said in a statement.

He was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and data protection offences, it said.

The arrest was the result of information passed to the commisson by a Scotland Yard probe into the bribery of police, called Operation Elveden, "and relates to the alleged passing of unauthorised information to a journalist".

The arrest is the latest in a series stemming from the scandal over the illegal hacking of mobile phone voicemails at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, which closed down in disgrace in July.

On Friday, police arrested Cheryl Carter, the former personal assistant of Rebekah Brooks, who resigned in July as head of News International, the British newspaper wing of Murdoch's global media empire.

Brooks has also been arrested, as has Andy Coulson, a former News of the World editor and ex-communications director for British Prime Minister David Cameron.