UK Soldiers are the Latest Victims In Murdoch's Growing Phone Hacking Scandal

A phone-hacking scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch's media empire grew today with claims that Britain's top-selling tabloid may have listened to the voicemail of relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. News International, the parent company of the News of the World tabloid, said it would be contacting the Defence Ministry after a report in the Daily Telegraph that the phone numbers of British soldiers were found in the files of a private investigator jailed for hacking phones. British top military officer, Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir General David Richards expressed his anger. "First of all, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, because there is a police investigation ongoing and we need to see the results of that, but, I have to say, if these actions are proved to have been verified, I'm appalled. I find it quite disgusting," he said. Rose Gentle, the mother of Gordon Gentle, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq's oil port of Bah-sra in 2004, said she was disgusted by the allegations. "If it is true, if this has happened, I'd like to see everyone responsible in court, because I don't think that they should just walk away with this, just thinking, 'I have done it,' and (thinking they can) just walk away and get fired from their job. I think they should be in court; there should be a trial for this," she said. Britain's military veterans' association, the British Legion, broke off a deal to campaign with the paper on improving conditions for service families, signaling how far the scandal is alienating their core readership. The scandal, which has cast an unflattering light on the way British tabloid newspapers work, dominated the front pages of almost every major British newspaper today. The main allegation is that journalists, or investigators hired by them, took advantage of often limited security on mobile phone voicemail boxes to listen to messages left for celebrities, politicians or people involved in major stories. The disclosure that the phone hacking involved victims of crime came when it emerged that a private detective working for the News of the World hacked into voicemail messages left on the mobile phone of a murdered schoolgirl while police were searching for her. That allegation caused outrage among Britons and prompted an emergency debate in parliament on Wednesday. The list of those whose phones may have been hacked continued to grow. It includes victims of the July 7, 2005 London transport bombings, when Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people, and the parents of Madeleine McCann, a British girl who disappeared in Portugal four years ago. Graham Foulkes, whose son David was among those killed in the 2005 London bombings, said the news had seriously affected relatives of the victims. "On the seventh, we have learned to control ourselves and each year our control has gradually improved and we are managing to cope and this has put us back to square one. It's deeply upsetting and distressing." Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday he was "revolted" by allegations that News of the World investigators eavesdropped on the voicemail of victims of crimes and said he would order an inquiry. But he resisted calls to put an end to attempts by Murdoch to buy out BskyB, a news and entertainment broadcaster, in which he has a minority stake. So far, Murdoch has said he will stand by Brooks, 43, who edited the paper from 2000 to 2003, when some of the gravest cases of phone hacking are alleged to have taken place. The News of the World is Britain's best-selling Sunday newspaper, read by some 7.5 million people on sales of 2.6 million.