Murdoch shows strong support for Brooks

London: Rupert Murdoch put on an extraordinary show of support for Rebekah Brooks on Sunday, apparently unconcerned about her imminent interview under police caution.

Flying into London to take personal charge of the phone-hacking scandal, the billionaire flaunted his confidence in his News International chief executive.

Brooks, who has twice offered to resign over the controversy, was seen entering Murdoch's Mayfair apartment at around 5.30pm on Sunday.

Later, when asked what was his top priority, the 80-year-old media mogul gestured to Brooks. "She is," he replied.

The pair spent an hour in the apartment discussing the scandal on the day the final edition of the News of the World hit news stands.

Then, in front of hordes of photographers, Murdoch walked her out of the block of flats with his arm firmly around her.

They had beaming smiles as they crossed the road to the Stafford Hotel, where they were expected to dine together and were later joined by Murdoch's son, James, the chairman of News International.

Pictures of the ‘Rupert and Rebekah show' will infuriate the victims of phone hacking and those who question her denials.

The jovial scenes come just two days after Brooks, 43, warned News of the World staff that worse revelations about the newspaper were still to emerge.

The embattled executive faces being quizzed as a potential police suspect or witness over her role in the phone-hacking scandal which brought down the 168-year-old title she once edited. She is set to be questioned under caution in London in the next two weeks.

She will be asked to give a full account of her actions during the period from 2000 to 2003 when she was editor.

She will also be asked to clarify whether she authorised bribes to police officers in return for tip-offs. In 2003, she told a Commons committee that News International paid officers for stories, a comment she later claimed had been misinterpreted.

It has also been revealed that at least nine former News of the World journalists, and three police officers, face charges over the hacking and corruption scandal.

Former deputy editor Neil Wallis, who had close dealings with a number of very senior Yard figures, is expected to be quizzed by police in the near future.