20110516
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The President of the International Monetary Fund, Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been arrested and charged with sexual assault.

Reuters reported that Strauss-Kahn who is aspiring to be the president of France, was accused of sexually assaulting a New York Hotel maid.

But the IMF, in confirming that its Chief was arrested, neither offered any reason for the arrest nor made any further comment on the case.

"IMF Managing Director Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York City. Mr. Strauss-Kahn has retained legal counsel, and the IMF has no comment on the case; all inquiries will be referred to his personal lawyer and to the local authorities," said Director of External Relations at the IMF, Ms. Caroline Atkinson.

The charges, according to Reuters, threatened to create a leadership vacuum at the IMF, overseer of the global economic system, and threw wide open the French presidential election next April, for which opinion polls had made Strauss-Kahn the front-runner.

Said one of his lawyers, Mr. Benjamin Brafman, who spoke Strauss-Kahn "will plead not guilty."

The 62-year-old socialist, a key player in the response to the 2007-9 global financial meltdown and in Europe's debt crisis, was reported to have been taken off an Air France plane about to leave for Paris from John F Kennedy International Airport on Saturday.

According to Reuters, New York police spokesman, Paul Browne said he was charged with a criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape. He was expected to have been before a state court later yesterday.

The arrest was said to have caused shock and disbelief in France, where a government spokesman called for caution and respect for the presumption of innocence.

"The news we received from New York last night struck like a thunderbolt," said Socialist leader Martine Aubry, appealing for party unity.

Francois Bayrou, a centrist opponent of Strauss-Kahn was quoted as saying: "All this is completely astounding, immensely troubling and distressing. If the facts prove true ... it's something degrading for all women. It's terrible for the image of France."

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen was also reported to have said her rival's presidential hopes had been crushed. Strauss-Kahn and Le Pen have led recent opinion polls ahead of conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, even though the chief of the International Monetary Fund had yet to declare his candidacy.

But a Greek official told Reuters the arrest could cause some short-term delays in discussions over a European Union/IMF bailout for Athens, in which Strauss-Kahn was closely involved, by forcing the cancellation of key meetings.

However, Reuters reported Strauss-Kahn's wife Anne Sinclair to have said in a statement: "I do not believe for a single second the accusations levelled against my husband."

She added: "I do not doubt his innocence will be established. I appeal for restraint and decency."

One of the IMF chief's French-based lawyers, Leon Lef Forster was quoted by Reuters: "We must wait until things settle and see if it's true or a provocation. We must be especially careful not to get into a media circus."

A 32-year-old maid filed a sexual assault complaint after fleeing the $3,000-a-night hotel suite at the Sofitel in Times Square where the alleged incident occurred around 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Saturday, Browne said.

According to Reuters, Strauss-Kahn appeared to have fled the hotel after the incident, the police spokesman said.

Browne told Reuters: "She told detectives he came out of the bathroom naked, ran down a hallway to the foyer where she was, pulled her into a bedroom and began to sexually assault her, according to her account.

"She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act, according to her account to detectives. He tried to lock her into the hotel room."

Strauss-Kahn does not have diplomatic immunity, Browne said.

According to New York state law, a criminal sexual act carries a potential sentence of 15-20 years, the same as attempted rape. Unlawful imprisonment carries a potential sentence of three to five years.