Disgraced Chinese politician, Bo Xilai's wife to face charges of murder

Prosecutors in China have indicted the wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai, on charges of murdering a British businessman, setting the stage for China's most sensational criminal trial in 30 years.

An investigation revealed that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, poisoned Neil Heywood, a British businessman, with the help of a family aide, fearing the businessman threatened her son's safety following a financial dispute, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency yesterday.

According to analysts, the announcement suggests that the Communist Party leadership had reached a consensus on handling of the murder case at the centre of China's worst political crisis since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Heywood, was found dead in his hotel room in Chongqing, the southwestern city where Bo was chief of the Communist party at the time. According to police, the businessman who was close to the Bo family died of excessive alcohol consumption and cremated his body without autopsy. However, an investigation undertaken after the city's police chief who was fired claimed Heywood had been poisoned by Gu.

Yesterday's statement was the first official update following the Chinese government saying in April that Gu was in custody on charges of murder and that Bo had been suspended from all of his party posts.

According to some experts on Chinese law and politics, Gu's indictment suggested the leadership could soon come out with a statement on whether Bo would also face charges, in relation in the case or regarding his policies in Chongqing.