IMF chief resigns, vows to prove innocence
NEW YORK (AFP) - Dominique Strauss-Kahn, resigned Thursday as chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying he did so with great regret, but should focus entirely on clearing his name of charges of assault sexual.
"I want to protect this institution I have served with honor and devotion, and above all - above all - I want to dedicate all my strength, all my time and all my energy to prove my innocence," he said.
"I mean that I deny in the strongest terms possible, all complaints made against me."
His brief statement paid tribute to his American-born wife, journalist Anne Sinclair, who said he loved more than anything, and spoke of his "infinite sadness" at having been forced to quit a job which was also dedicated .
Strauss-Kahn, a French political leader, is currently in jail awaiting a decision by the grand jury about the possibility of prosecuting on charges of alleged sexual assault and attempted rape of a waitress at the hotel 32 years of age, Manhattan.
His lawyers are expected to promote American credentials of his wife before a judge later Thursday in another attempt to free him from the harsh prison Rikers Island, where he was spending his third night in the service isolation suicide.
The bail application of new claims that Strauss-Kahn should not be considered a flight risk because he has strong ties with the United States through the property and the family.
As evidence of the strong U.S. ties, the application mentions a $ 4 million house in Washington, DC, a daughter in New York, and even Sinclair says is "currently working on a book about American political life."
In addition to the $ 1 million lawyers Strauss-Kahn said he can post bail, he said he is willing to be confined to an apartment in Manhattan 24 hours a day, with electronic monitoring, until the case is resolved.
"These additional security conditions to eliminate any concerns Mr. Strauss-Kahn might leave the jurisdiction of this court," attorney Shawn wrote Naunton.
Strauss-Kahn, swore in the relinquishment of all rights to extradition, though France has no extradition treaty with the United States and the IMF says it has no diplomatic immunity in this case.
The waitress, who has accused one of the most powerful men in the world to address the violation of their Saturday at his luxury hotel suite before appeared before the grand jury must decide whether there is enough evidence to go to trial .
The single mother of a daughter aged 15, argues that Strauss-Kahn, groping and maimed her in her room at the luxurious Sofitel Hotel in Times Square, and tried to force oral sex with her.
His attorney, Jeff Shapiro, declined to comment on the work of the jury in camera on line, but defended himself against claims that his client was part of an elaborate set-up aimed at overthrowing the French political leader and former IMF chief now.
Shapiro also shot down the idea that his client had consented to a sexual encounter and forensic evidence suggested that his backup.
"There was a lot of things said here about conspiracy theories and many more things, and are not true," Shapiro told CNN.
"Most importantly, she is vindicated. She has no agenda other than to say the truth and be able to live his life as he did before this event took place."
Strauss-Kahn, end before the scandal broke as a strong possible candidate for the French presidency, has denied all seven charges of alleged sexual assault and attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment.
But he was denied bail on Monday by a judge and is desperate to get out of jail on Rikers Island, where he has been forced to wear shoes without laces and slip and a special gray suit.
U.S. media reportsSaid New York police had gathered evidence from the hotel suite, including bodily fluids taken from a place where the maiden remembered spitting in alleged attack on Saturday and is being tested for DNA.
top of Strauss-Kahn attorney Benjamin Brafman told the bail hearing on Monday that the tests "will not be compatible with a meeting by force, and New York media reports quoted a source close to the defense saying he "could not have obtained the consent."
The scandal has thrown the French political scene into chaos, as Strauss-Kahn had been seen as a strong contender to defeat President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's elections.
It also comes at a critical time for the IMF, in the midst of delicate negotiations to help overcome the debt crisis of the euro area.
"The Fund shall be communicated in the near future in the Executive Council process of selecting a new Director General. Meanwhile, Mr. John Lipsky is still Acting Managing Director," the IMF said.
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