I was unfaithful to wife Gu Kailai, Bo Xilai admits in court

In an unexpected twist to the Bo Xilai court drama, the former Chongqing party secretary admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife, Gu Kailai , but "still had feelings for her".

Gu, who is serving a suspended death sentence for murdering Briton Neil Heywood, has been a key witness for prosecutors in the bribery and embezzlement case in the past three days.

Bo had been publicly accused of "having and maintaining improper sexual relationships", among other accusations, by the Commission for Discipline Inspection last September. But details of his extramarital affair had not been included in the three charges brought against him.

Bo yesterday voluntarily told the court about his infidelity when he tried to discredit Gu's testimony that he knowingly let her accept five million yuan to improve the family's finances when she and their son, Bo Guagua , were living overseas.

"Gu Kailai is a woman with high self-esteem," Bo said.

"She would never complain about financial issues in front of me. She arranged the whole thing - to send Guagua to study at middle school in the UK - and took off after informing me.

"She did this because I had an affair before and she was furious. She took Guagua away, to a large extent, to get back at me."