Greg Miskiw, 61, one of the few senior editors at the time of the phone-hacking who had not yet been arrested, told Britain’s Channel 4 news last month he was preparing to return from his Florida home to Britain to talk to police.
The arrested man was named by Sky News as Miskiw, who ran the News of the World’s news desk for many years.
A Reuters journalist who visited Miskiw’s Florida home on Tuesday found it empty with mail piled up, and no car or signs of movement.
The man is the 12th person to be arrested as part of the probe that has rocked News Corp. and had far-reaching implications for the British establishment.
So far, it has forced the resignations of former News of the World editor and Murdoch favorite Rebekah Brooks, and Britain’s top two policemen.
Rupert Murdoch and his son James have been questioned in parliament about the affair. James Murdoch, who runs News Corp.’s non-US operations, may be recalled after two senior former News International executives called his evidence into question.
Detectives said the man had been held at midday after he arrived by appointment at a London police station on “suspicion of unlawful interception of communications” and conspiring to commit the same offense.
The arrest was made by detectives conducting an inquiry into whether journalists and private investigators, seeking gossip for stories, illegally intercepted voicemail messages on mobile phones of people ranging from celebrities and politicians to murder victims and the families of dead soldiers.
