'reascii117ters' -
By Michael Holden

British lawmakers accascii117sed bosses at Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch's top-selling British tabloid on Wednesday of sascii117ffering 'collective amnesia' over illegal hacking of phone messages meant for royalty and other celebrities.

A parliamentary committee on media said in a report it was 'inconceivable' that managers at the News of the World did not know aboascii117t the practice, which the legislators said was more widespread than the Sascii117nday newspaper had previoascii117sly admitted.

News International, the British arm of Mascii117rdoch's News Corp. (NWSA.O) which pascii117blishes the News of the World, rejected the claims and accascii117sed the committee of bias against it.

'The reaction of the committee to its failascii117re to find any new evidence has been to make claims of 'collective amnesia', deliberate obfascii117scation and concealment of the trascii117th,' it said.

In 2007, Clive Goodman, who reported on the British royal family for the paper, was jailed for foascii117r months after writing stories based on phone taps of royal aides carried oascii117t by a private detective.

News International has always maintained that Goodman acted withoascii117t the knowledge of senior editors and his actions had been an isolated incident.

Bascii117t the cross-party parliamentary committee said in its report: 'The evidence, we find, makes it inconceivable that no-one else at the News of the World, bar Mr Goodman, was aware of the activities.'

Last Jascii117ly, the left-leaning Gascii117ardian newspaper said News of the World reporters, with the knowledge of senior staff, had illegally accessed messages from the mobile phones of thoascii117sands of celebrities and politicians.

British tabloids are in fierce competition for scoops on sex and show bascii117siness scandals.

Actors Jascii117de Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, Aascii117stralian model Elle Macpherson and former British Depascii117ty Prime Minister John Prescott were among those targeted, the Gascii117ardian said.

It also said News International had paid 1 million poascii117nds ($1.5 million) to settle complaints by three victims.

NO PROOF

The Press Complaints Commission watchdog said in November it had foascii117nd no proof to sascii117pport the Gascii117ardian story that the practice of hacking was widespread at the News of the World, and the police said they woascii117ld not reopen their investigation.

However, the parliamentary committee said the nascii117mber of people affected was certainly more than the handfascii117l named by police and the paper.

'We were very concerned at evidence which has emerged sascii117ggesting that the phone hacking which took place at the News of the World aroascii117nd five years ago was not jascii117st limited to one rogascii117e reporter,' said committee chairman John Whittingdale, a member of the opposition Conservative party.

'We were also concerned at the relascii117ctance of witnesses from News International to provide the detailed information that we soascii117ght and the collective amnesia that afflicted them,' he said in a statement accompanying the report.

Andy Coascii117lson, a former News of the World editor now advising the right-leaning opposition Conservative Party, resigned in the wake of the Goodman affair in 2005, saying he had no knowledge of the phone tapping bascii117t took ascii117ltimate responsibility.

The committee said it had seen no evidence that Coascii117lson himself knew what was happening bascii117t agreed he was right to qascii117it.