Candid camera sex scandal shocks Palestinians (Abbas's CoS solicits sex from job applicant)

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 2/11/10 | Hossam Ezzedine

[NormsRevenge]

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – Palestinians were shocked on Thursday after Israeli TV aired a graphic video showing a senior official caught on a hidden camera soliciting sex from a job applicant.

The video, parts of which aired on Israel's Channel 10 earlier this week, was shot by former Palestinian intelligence officer Fahmi Shabaneh, who has accused the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of widespread corruption.

In the video, Rafiq al-Husseini, president Mahmud Abbas's chief of staff, is shown flirting with a woman Shabaneh said was seeking a job in the Authority before entering a bedroom, taking off his clothes and crawling into bed.

"How does this work? Should I turn off the lights or will you," he chuckles from inside the room to someone off-screen in the video, now widely available on youtube.

Moments later Shabaneh and several other security men walk into the room, surprising a naked Husseini, who holds British citizenship, and confronting him with the allegations.

The video was shot sometime in 2008.

Whistle-blower Shabaneh said he was releasing it now because the Authority had refused to act on his investigation of top officials who he accused of stealing millions of dollars of public funds.

The Palestinian Authority is up in arms over the report, and attorney general Ahmad al-Mughanni on Wednesday threatened to pursue "legal action against Israel's Channel 10 for circulating lies and false claims."

In the face of public shock, he said Shabaneh had been dismissed from the security forces and was wanted on a number of criminal charges.

"(Shabaneh) is wanted in connection with a number of cases, including selling land to foreign entities, attempted murder, assault and threatening national security," he said in a statement, without providing further details.

[SunkenCiv]

...shot by former Palestinian intelligence officer Fahmi Shabaneh, who has accused the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of widespread corruption. In the video, Rafiq al-Husseini, president Mahmud Abbas's chief of staff, is shown flirting with a woman Shabaneh said was seeking a job in the Authority before entering a bedroom, taking off his clothes and crawling into bed... Moments later Shabaneh and several other security men walk into the room, surprising a naked Husseini, who holds British citizenship, and confronting him with the allegations... Whistle-blower Shabaneh said he was releasing it now because the Authority had refused to act on his investigation of top officials who he accused of stealing millions of dollars of public funds... "(Shabaneh) is wanted in connection with a number of cases, including selling land to foreign entities, attempted murder, assault and threatening national security," he said in a statement, without providing further details.

No wonder Bill and Hillary and the rest of the US left love the Palis. Thanks NormsRevenge.