Sun on Sunday Launch Very Soon - Rupert Murdoch

The Sun on Sunday will be launched "very soon" and staff suspended pending police inquiries into illegal payments are welcome to return to work, Rupert Murdoch has told anxious News International staff at a face-to-face meeting in London.

The embattled media mogul, chief of News Corp and News International, flew into the UK to reassure staff at the Sun offices in Wapping, east London, amid fears that the newspaper would be sold or shut down as it becomes more embroiled in the police bribery investigations.

The Sun's sister paper, News of The World, was shut in July as the phone hacking scandal exploded out of control.

News of the News of the World replacement broke on Twitter, with Sophie Ridge of Sky News tweeting: "Rupert Murdoch has emailed staff saying he's 'launching the Sun on Sunday very soon'."

Murdoch is reported to have told staff that the Sun was "a part of me and one of our proudest achievements".

"We will turn over every piece of everything we find because it is the right thing to do," the News Corp chairman said of the trawl through three million internal emails being conducted as part of the police probe.

"All suspensions are hereby lifted until or whether charged and they are welcome to return to work."

Murdoch's announcement of a Sunday launch will dispel rumours that Murdoch was going to close down or sell off the flagship Sun. A number of the tabloid's senior staff were arrested recently.

"We're doing everything we can to assist those who are arrested," the Murdoch email continued.

Murdoch vowed to stay in London for several weeks to provide support for staff.

"We will obey the law," he said "Illegal activity simply cannot and will not be tolerated at any of our publications."

Rupert Murdoch Announces Sun on Sunday to Staff - The Full Email