BEIJING, Aug 3 (Reuters) - China will open the murder trial
of Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Communist Party Politburo
member Bo Xilai, on Aug. 9, two sources said on Friday, a case
at the centre of a scandal that has rocked the government and
could bring Gu the death penalty.
Both sources requested anonymity, citing the sensitivity of
the case, and provided no other details.
China only last week formally announced Gu's indictment on
charges of murdering a British man in November.
Gu will face trial in Hefei, provincial capital of Anhui in
eastern China, though she is accused of murdering businessman
Neil Heywood in Chongqing, a southwest municipality that her
husband Bo turned into a showpiece for his controversial
policies.
British diplomats have requested access to the trial.
CNN reported that two family members would be allowed to attend
and that the trial was expected to be speedy.
Bo, who was dismissed as chief of Chongqing in March, has
not been named as a suspect in the murder case, but he is
separately under investigation by party authorities and could
also face trial at a later time.
Political observers have said a failure to forge a unified
stance on handling the divisive Bo case could affect the
Communist Party's focus on working out leadership changes that
will be decided at the 18th national congress later this year.
Bo, 62, was widely seen as pushing for a spot in that new
leadership until felled by the scandal brought to light by his
former police chief, Wang Lijun.
Bo, also a former commerce minister, had used his post in
Chongqing since 2007 to recast the sprawling, haze-covered
municipality into a showcase for his mix of populist policies
and bold investment and spending plans.
Wang, 52, spearheaded Bo's controversial campaign against
organised crime, a plank in Bo's barely concealed campaign to
join the topmost ranks of the party. Critics said the campaign
involved widespread abuses of police powers.
But Wang said he came to fear for his own safety after a
split with Bo in late January over allegations that Bo's wife Gu
was involved in the suspected murder of Heywood, sources
familiar with the later Chinese investigation have said.
