Trial of executives in China milk scandal closes, verdict pending

SHIJIAZHUANG, Dec. 31 (Chinese media) -- The trial at a

court here in Hebei Province of four executives of the Sanlu Group, the major

dairy at the center of China's tainted milk scandal, ended without an immediate

verdict at 10:10 p.m. on Wednesday.

The trial opened at 8 a.m.

Prosecutors accused Tian Wenhua, Sanlu's former board

chairwoman and general manager, and three other executives of producing and

selling fake or sub-standard products.

Sanlu Group Co., Ltd., represented by its trade union

chairman Ran Weiguang, was also a defendant.

The three other executives are former deputy general

managers Wang Yuliang and Hang Zhiqi, and Wu Jusheng, a former executive in

charge of the milk procurement division.

All four defendants were arrested on Sept. 26.

At the end of the trial, Ran, on behalf of Sanlu,

offered apologies to children sickened by the tainted milk and their families.

The verdict will be announced at an unspecified

future date.