CHICAGO - The governor of Illinois was arrested Tuesday for conspiring to sell an appointment to president-elect Barack Obama's recently open US senate seat, prosecutors said.

Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were also accused to trying to "induce purge of newspaper editorial writers," critical of him at the Tribune Company, the US attorney's office said in a statement.

"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," US attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.

"They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States Senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism."

Blagojevich was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps discussing obtaining how he could profit from the fact that it is the governor's role to appoint a US senator when a seat becomes vacant, according to a 76-page FBI affidavit.

Blagojevich allegedly discussed getting paid a substantial salary working for a non-profit foundation or labor union, placing his wife on corporate boards where he speculated she might get paid as much as 150,000 dollars a year, promises of campaign funds, and a cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.

"Many, including myself, thought that the recent conviction of a former governor would usher in a new era of honesty and reform in Illinois politics," said Robert Grant, special agent-in-charge of the Chicago office of the FBI.

"Clearly, the charges announced today reveal that the office of the governor has become nothing more than a vehicle for self-enrichment, unrestricted by party affiliation and taking Illinois politics to a new low."

A spokesman for Blagojevich contacted by AFP declined to comment.

Blagojevich, 51, and Harris, 46, were each charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.