'Tape shows Strauss-Kahn maid not after money'

US: The lawyer for a New York maid who has accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape said Wednesday that a phone recording proved she was no gold-digger after the ex-IMF chief's money.

Lawyer Kenneth Thompson said he and Nafissatou Diallo spent eight hours with prosecutors from the district attorney's office listening to and translating a phone recording which prosecutors said had raised doubts about her credibility thereby putting the future of a trial in doubt.

It was clear Diallo "never said the words" attributed to her by a US newspaper claiming that she knew Strauss-Kahn had a lot of money, Thompson told reporters outside the Manhattan DA's office.

"I'm telling you that certain things were said that were merged together in this quote that was given to The New York Times," Thompson told reporters.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, a veteran French politician, has denied seven charges of attempted rape and sexual assault arising out of the incident in his Sofitel luxury hotel suite in Manhattan on May 14.

Diallo revealed her identity for the first time on Sunday saying she wanted to clear her name after a New York tabloid claimed she was a prostitute and was after Strauss-Kahn's money, and also because she said she was seeking justice against her alleged attacker.

The New York Times, in early July, quoted a law enforcement official saying that during a phone conversation with a man jailed in the United States for possessing marijuana, Diallo "says words to the effect of, 'Don't worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I'm doing.'" Thompson said both sides had reviewed the recording of the tape Wednesday with an interpreter who spoke Diallo's native Guinean language of Fulani.

"We have been listening to that tape, and that tape shows that the victims never said the words" attributed to her, Thompson said.

"She told that gentleman that 'Someone tried to rape me and that he's a powerful, big man.'"

New York, Thursday, AFP