Chinese police officers 'admit' Gu Kailai cover-up: Official

HEFEI, China (AFP) - Four Chinese police officers on Friday admitted in court to covering up the killing of a British businessman to protect the wife of a senior politician charged with his murder, an official said.

The men were accused of trying to protect the spouse of Bo Xilai, who was one of China's most senior leaders until his downfall earlier this year in a political scandal that has shaken the ruling Communist party.

All four were senior police officials in Chongqing, the south-western Chinese megacity that Bo ran until he was sacked in March, and where British businessman Neil Heywood's body was discovered in a hotel room last November.

Mr Tang Yigan, an official with the Hefei Intermediate Court in eastern China, told reporters their one-day trial had ended late on Friday and that a verdict would be given at a later date.