NEW YORK: New York Congressman Anthony Weiner announced his resignation from Congress at a press conference in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon.

His wife Huma Abedin, a devout Muslim, did not appear with him although some people here speculated that Weiner must have pleaded to her to “stand by him”, despite the scandal. They were married less than a year ago in a ceremony presided over by former US President Bill Clinton.

Weiner said he had hoped to be able to get back to work after getting embroiled in the scandal, but “unfortunately the distraction that I have created has made that impossible”.

A boisterous heckler shouted at him from the background, but Weiner did not respond to him.