China's Bo Xilai says prepared for jail

China's disgraced politician Bo Xilai recently sent a letter to his family, insisting that he is innocent but saying that he is prepared to serve a jail term, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Thursday. Two people with close ties to the Bo family confirmed the authenticity of the letter, believed to have been written last Thursday, the South China Morning Post said, adding that it is the first communication between Bo and his family since his detention in March last year. The former Chongqing Communist Party chief who had been once tipped to lead China's top decision-making body said that "one day" his name will be cleared, but "I will wait quietly in the prison," the paper quoted Bo as saying in the letter. A Chinese court is scheduled to deliver a verdict on Sunday on Bo who faces charges of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. Bo, whose dramatic purge from power marked the country's biggest political scandal in recent decades, was ousted from the post in March last year after his wife and the police chief Wang Lijun were jailed over the November 2011 murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. Gu Kailai was convicted of murdering Heywood and given a suspended death sentence. The trial is expected to allow the Chinese Communist Party leadership to wrap up the Bo case and consolidate its authority. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who took office in March, is ramping up his campaign against corruption.