IMF chief 'must step down' over New York rape allegations
Rape suspect Dominique Strauss-Kahn could be forced to step down as head of the International Monetary Fund amid pressure from senior European politicians.
Austrian finance minister Maria Fekter called on Strauss-Kahn, 62, to consider his position. Her Spanish counterpart, Elena Salgado, spoke out in support for the hotel maid he is alleged to have sexually assaulted.
The IMF chief is being kept in isolation at the notorious Rikers Island prison after he was refused bail at Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday, despite his wife Anne Sinclair offering $1 million bail.
Strauss-Kahn, a favourite for France's 2012 presidential election, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of attempted rape, sexual abuse and a criminal sex act. He is due back in court on Friday.
The maid, 32, accused Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her at the Sofitel hotel in New York on Saturday. Her family said today that she is "in pain".
The 32-year-old woman has accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her at the five-star Sofitel hotel in New York on Saturday.
Her older brother said she is still suffering after the alleged attack. Speaking to the New York Times, he said: "She's a wonderful, hard-working woman, that's why she's in pain."
The man, who manages a restaurant in Manhattan, added that he and the victim's daughter were the only family she had in America. His sister was resting in a secure location and "is coming back normally" with the help of her lawyer, he added.
The woman is reported to be an immigrant from Guinea in West Africa and raising a 16-year-old daughter alone in a poor part of the Bronx.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, was yesterday refused bail at the Manhattan Criminal Court despite his wife Anne Sinclair offering to put up $1 million bail after judge Melissa Jackson deemed he was at risk of fleeing. The IMF chief, widely tipped as a contender for the French presidency, was remanded in custody at the notorious Rikers Island prison.
Strauss-Kahn faces several charges of sex assault, including attempted rape, sexual abuse and a criminal sex act. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted and is due back in court on Friday to learn if he faces a grand jury indictment.
The politician's arrest has provoked fury in France with the Socialist party attacking the US for broadcasting images of his court appearance.
Before an emergency meeting in Paris, party leader Martine Aubry said: "I'm amazed because it's incredible. I'm stupefied, shocked by these images. In France we should not have seen these images of the hearing.
"We were shocked by what we heard, by what we saw, for Dominique and his family, and for this young woman, who we must not forget." She added: 'There will certainly be one victim - the young woman if the facts are proved or Dominique if he is innocent."
Former culture and education minister Jack Lang called on Ms Aubry to confirm Strauss-Kahn as a potential presidential candidate, and attacked US justice as "an inhuman system that grinds up those who fall into its hands". Strauss-Kahn's alleged victim has claimed that when she entered his suite to clean it on Saturday afternoon, he emerged naked from the bathroom and chased her down a hall before pulling her back inside.
The maid claims she fought him off before he dragged her into the bathroom and forced her to perform oral sex. She broke free as he tried to remove her underwear.
French author Tristane Banon, 31, has also accused Strauss-Khan of trying to rape her a decade ago.
