Palestinian officials rally around Abbas aide shown in sex scandal video; some ask he quit

Palestinians support Abbas aide in sex scandal

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian officials are rallying around a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas after a video surfaced showing him in the nude in an alleged sex-for-influence swap.

The video of Rafiq Husseini has raised an uproar among Palestinians and calls for his resignation.

But another Abbas aide, Nimr Hamad, said Friday that Husseini would remain in his post for now.

In the video, broadcast by Israeli TV, Husseini is shown undressing in a bedroom and calling out to an unseen woman, heard off camera, to join him.

A former Palestinian intelligence official who says he secretly took the footage in collusion with the unidentified woman says Husseini demanded sex with her in return for using his influence to solve a family problem.