Close aide curses Palestinian leader in leaked audio

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas was heard in newly released recordings on Tuesday cursing the Palestinian leader and insulting other members of the Palestinian leadership.

The purported remarks by Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior official who is seen as a potential successor to the 87-year-old Abbas, gave a glimpse of the bitter infighting inside the Palestinian leadership as several hopefuls try to position themselves for the post-Abbas era.

The embattled leader has not designated a successor, and last year he called off what would have been the first Palestinian parliamentary elections in 15 years.

The recordings were released by a news website run by the militant Hamas group, the bitter rival of Abbas’ Fatah party.

Hamas ousted pro-Abbas forces and took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, leaving him confined to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It was not known when the recordings were made, who made them or how Hamas obtained them.

The exact context of the conversations also wasn't clear. But al-Sheikh is repeatedly heard complaining about Abbas and denigrating other potential contenders for the presidency.

Al-Sheikh is a senior official who holds the powerful position of overseeing day-to-day relations with Israel. He also was named this year as secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, raising speculation that Abbas was grooming him for the presidency.

Abbas, who was elected for what was supposed to be a four-year term in 2006, has grown increasingly unpopular during his years in office. He is widely seen as autocratic and out of touch with his people, and he shares blame for years of failed, on-and-off peace negotiations.

Charges of corruption inside the PA, its close security coordination with Israel, its failure to stop...