Abbas aide in sex tape scandal urged to quit

[Scurrilous]

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"As sex tapes go, it's fairly tame — a man gets undressed in a bedroom, slides under the covers, plumps the pillows and calls to a woman to join him.

But the man is a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and a former Palestinian intelligence official who secretly recorded the scene alleges the aide tried to trade his influence for sex.

The footage of the aide, Rafiq Husseini, has sent shock waves through conservative Palestinian society since it was broadcast on Israeli TV earlier this week.

It has left the Palestinian leader scrambling for a response and his rivals from the Islamic militant group Hamas gloating.

Even though the Palestinian Authority has won international praise for cleaning up official corruption that was rampant under the late Yasser Arafat, Abbas' Fatah movement continues to be dogged by the perception that some of its leading officials pursue personal gain and pleasure over the national good."

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