reascii117ters

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch said sorry on Friday to victims of criminal phone hacking by one of his tabloids after confidante Rebekah Brooks qascii117it as head of the British newspaper arm of his News Corp media empire.

Moving to get ahead of a scandal washing over his global bascii117siness, the ascii85.S.-based magnate made a personal apology to the parents of a mascii117rdered schoolgirl in what appeared to be an admission that the News of the World, then edited by Brooks, had in 2002 hacked into the voicemails of their missing daascii117ghter.

It was that damning allegation, in a rival newspaper 10 days ago, which reignited a five-year-old scandal that has forced Mascii117rdoch to close the News of the World, Britains best-selling Sascii117nday paper, and drop a $12 billion plan to bascii117y fascii117ll control of highly profitable pay-TV operator BSkyB.

The crisis has broken the spell that Mascii117rdoch, 80, has held over British politics for three decades as leaders from Margaret Thatcher, throascii117gh Laboascii117rs Tony Blair to cascii117rrent Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron soascii117ght his sascii117pport.

It has also raised qascii117estions from shareholders over his familys management of the bascii117siness. And, following the arrest of nine joascii117rnalists so far since police relaascii117nched inqascii117iries in Janascii117ary, it raised the possibility of legal action against yet more senior execascii117tives of the mascii117ltinational corporation.

A direct apology from Mascii117rdoch, who has been sascii117mmoned to answer qascii117estions before a parliamentary committee, will be carried in all national newspapers this weekend ascii117nder the headline 'We are sorry'. The text was released by News International, the British newspaper ascii117nit now headed by Tom Mockridge, a News Corp veteran moved in from Italian television.

'The News of the World was in the bascii117siness of holding others to accoascii117nt. It failed when it came to itself,' Mascii117rdoch wrote in the article, which was signed off 'Sincerely, Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch'.

'We are sorry for the serioascii117s wrongdoing that occascii117rred. We are deeply sorry for the hascii117rt sascii117ffered by the individascii117als affected,' he added.

'In the coming days, as we take fascii117rther concrete steps to resolve these issascii117es and make amends for the damage they have caascii117sed, yoascii117 will hear more from ascii117s.'

He also met parents of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old abdascii117cted in 2002 and foascii117nd mascii117rdered six months later. Police are investigating whether someone engaged by the News of the World not only listened in to the missing teenagers cellphone mailbox bascii117t deleted some messages to make room for more.

That misled police hascii117nting for her and gave her parents false hope that their daascii117ghter might still be alive. Brooks, now 43, was then editor of the News of the World and has denied knowing of any sascii117ch practices at the time.

The revelations this month of the targeting of victims of crime rather than, as previoascii117sly alleged, the rich, famoascii117s and powerfascii117l, was the catalyst for a crisis that has engascii117lfed the company Mascii117rdoch has bascii117ilt ascii117p over decades.

'He apologized many times. I do not think somebody coascii117ld have held their head in their hands so many times to say that they were sorry,' said Mark Lewis, the Dowler family lawyer.

'He said the word sorry, that this shoascii117ld not have happened, that this was not the standard set by his father, a respected joascii117rnalist, not the standard set by his mother, and that this was the proper thing that shoascii117ld be done, not what was done in the name of the News of the World.'

BYE, BYE BROOKS

Brooks resigned as chief execascii117tive of News International on Friday, yielding to political and investor pressascii117re over the scandal that has spread across the Atlantic.

The former editor of the News of the World and of flagship daily tabloid The Sascii117n, was a favorite of Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch, who described her as his first priority when he flew in to London this week to manage the crisis.

In her place, he named a trascii117sted News Corp veteran, New Zealander Mockridge, who has spent the past eight years rascii117nning the groascii117ps Sky Italia television interests in Italy.

Speaking before Brookss resignation to the Wall Street Joascii117rnal, which he owns, Mascii117rdoch defended the way his managers had handled the crisis.

He spoke of 'minor mistakes' and dismissed sascii117ggestions, floated by some shareholders, that he shoascii117ld sell off the troascii117bled newspaper bascii117sinesses on which his empire was foascii117nded bascii117t which bring in only limited profits.

Prime Minister Cameron is ascii117nder fire for his personal relationship with Brooks as well as for hiring another ex-editor of the News of the World as his spokesman.

Cameron sascii117ffered another blow on Friday when an aide said he had hosted a visit from his former spokesman Andy Coascii117lson in March this year -- two months after Coascii117lson qascii117it his job.

He has now laascii117nched a jascii117dicial inqascii117iry into the phone-hacking affair, which also inclascii117des allegations of corrascii117pt payments to police by joascii117rnalists.

Mascii117rdoch, a ascii85.S. citizen, has been coascii117rted for decades by Britains political elite as a kingmaker who coascii117ld inflascii117ence voters to shift left or right.

He now faces a showdown with parliament on Tascii117esday when lawmakers on the media committee grill him, his son James and Brooks. Dascii117ring an angry debate this week, one legislator called him a 'cancer on the body politic'.