Strauss-Kahn back in Paris after sex scandal

FRANCE: Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn returned to Paris Sunday for the first time since a New York hotel cleaner accused him of attempted rape in a torrid sex scandal that scuppered his hopes for the French presidency. Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair arrived at dawn at Charles de Gaulle airport on an Air France flight from New York and were whisked off in a black Peugeot to their apartment in the chic Place des Vosges.

Surrounded by a large number of police, they were smiling but made no statement to journalists waiting for their arrival at the airport and again declined to comment when they arrived at their home in the heart of Paris.

Strauss-Kahn, dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, boarded the flight at New York’s JFK International airport late Saturday, less than two weeks after sexual assault charges against him were dropped.

The 62-year-old resigned as the International Monetary Fund’s managing director in May after he was arrested at JFK airport and charged with the sexual assault and attempted rape of the Sofitel hotel maid.

Last week he walked free when a judge dismissed charges against him. Prosecutors said they could not pursue the case because the accuser’s lies had made it impossible to prove her accusations beyond a reasonable doubt.

The respected French economist and former finance minister had been expected to be President Nicolas Sarkozy’s main challenger in 2012 elections before the scandal broke in May, but the saga has left his political career in tatters.

His imminent return has caused embarrassment for France’s opposition Socialist Party as it prepares to vote in a primary to choose a candidate to run against Sarkozy in the presidential election next April and May.

Paris, Sunday, AFP