醜聞纏身 加拿大多倫多市長或進康復中心

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, under pressure to quit after admitting he smoked crack cocaine and had a drink problem, could enter rehab, his lawyer says.

Dennis Morris told the Globe and Mail that the mayor of Canada's largest city was "considering options".

"And we'll stay tuned to see what he says in the next few days," Mr Morristold the newspaper.

His comments come a day after Mr Ford apologised for a video of him threatening to kill an unknown person.

The 44-year-old married father of two said he was "extremely, extremely inebriated" at the time it was filmed and he was "embarrassed" by it.

Toronto police said last week they have a separate video apparently showing Mr Ford smoking crack cocaine, which has not been made public.

Foul-mouthed rant

His older brother, Doug Ford, told a radio broadcaster on Friday that his brother could benefit from "a little bit of counselling".

"If Rob goes away on a vacation, for a week or two weeks, Rob loses 50, 60 pounds, stays on the straight narrows," he said, "it'll be tough to beat Rob Ford."

Thursday's release of a video showing an agitated Mr Ford during a foul-mouthed rant was a defining moment for the mayor, Mr Morris has told reporters.

The context of the clip is not clear, nor is the target of Mr Ford's wrath.

He vows to rip out the person's throat, poke out his eyes and ensure his victim is dead.

On Thursday, Mr Morris said he had been in talks with Toronto police to view the crack-smoking clip.

Police say the video is not enough to charge Mr Ford but they have not made it public as it is evidence before the courts.

Allegations of drug use by Mr Ford surfaced in May when journalists reported seeing footage of him smoking crack cocaine.

The mayor acknowledged for the first time on Tuesday that he had taken the drug "probably a year ago" while in a "drunken stupor".

He said he was "embarrassed" by his behaviour, though he vowed to run for re-election.

Mr Ford has faced mounting calls from even his political allies to resign, saying they have lost confidence in him.

But officials in North America's fourth-largest city cannot legally remove him unless he is convicted of a crime.加拿大多倫多市市長羅布·福特最近醜聞纏身、爭議不斷。據英國廣播公司11月8日報道，因吸毒和酗酒問題相繼曝光，福特面臨巨大的辭職壓力，其律師丹尼斯·莫里斯當天表示，福特可能會進康復中心。

莫里斯告訴加拿大《環球郵報》，市長正在“考慮一些選擇”，“我們將繼續關注他接下來幾天會說什麼”。

44歲的福特7日爲揚言殺人的不雅視頻道歉，他在視頻中稱要撕開對方的喉嚨、挖出其眼珠，並確定對方死亡。目前尚不清楚福特是在什麼情況下說出這番話的，也不清楚他威脅的對象是誰。福特承認當時“醉得非常非常厲害”，併爲此感到“慚愧”。

他的哥哥道格·福特8日告訴媒體，福特可能需要“一點輔導”。“如果他去休一兩週的假，減掉五六十磅體重，就不會那麼容易被擊敗。”

多倫多警方上週稱掌握了福特吸毒的視頻，並於7日傳喚了福特，覈實吸毒問題。福特吸毒一事早在今年5月就被曝光了，記者聲稱看過他吸食可卡因的視頻，但其本人極力否認。5日，福特首次承認他“大約1年前”在“醉得不省人事”的情況下吸過毒。他對自己的行爲感到“難爲情”，但明確表示還要競選連任。

目前，福特面臨愈來愈高的辭職呼聲，其中甚至有他的政治盟友，他們說已經對福特失去信心。不過，多倫多當局目前尚不能解除福特的職務，除非他被定罪。