French public prosecutors dropped an investigation onThursday into a writer's accusation of attempted rape against former IMF chiefDominique Strauss-Kahn due to lack of evidence.
The Paris public prosecutor's office said evidence existedsuggesting sexual assault but a prosecution on that lesser charge was notpossible under the statute of limitations. The incident at the center of thecomplaint dates back to 2003.
Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist who was once runaway favorite to becomethe next French president, quit as head of the International Monetary Fund inMay after police arrested him in New York on charges of attempting to rape ahotel maid. He denied the charges, which were later dropped.
In France, he was accused by writer Tristane Banon, a woman30 years his junior, of attempted rape in a Paris flat where she went tointerview him eight years ago.
While it would have been possible to launch a prosecution ona count of attempted rape, other sex assault charges fall outside the judicialtime limits.
"What came to light is that, while there is not enoughevidence to pursue on a count of attempted rape, there are elements that can bequalified as sexual assault," the prosecutor's office said in a statementon the outcome of a preliminary inquiry by police.
Since the incident dated back to 2003 and Banon had onlyfiled her complaint in 2011, the matter could not be pursued, the statementsaid.
Strauss-Kahn's lawyers had dismissed the accusations andlaunched a counter-suit against Banon for alleged defamation.
OUTCOME DISAPPOINTING, LAWYER SAYS
Banon's lawyer, David Koubbi, said Thursday's outcome wasdisappointing but proved her complaint was not a figment of her imagination.
U.S. prosecutors decided in August to drop charges against62-year-old Strauss-Kahn, citing concern over the credibility of the hotelmaid, Nafissatou Diallo. Her lawyers have threatened to start civilproceedings.
In an emailed reaction to events in Paris, a lawyer forDiallo, Douglas Wigdor, said: "We have supported and believe that Ms Banonwas sexually assaulted by Mr Strauss-Kahn and are pleased that the prosecutorsin Paris, as has been reported, have found evidence supporting a sexualassault."
Diallo's legal representative in France, Thibault de Montbrial,said the Banon case showed Strauss-Kahn had lied over events in 2003, a factwhich could help his own client's civil case against the former IMF chief inNew York.
"Some very precise questions will have to be put tohim. In the United States one is liable for lies that one told in thepast," he told Reuters TV.
In a recent interview with French television, Strauss-Kahnsaid the nine-minute sexual encounter with Diallo that led to his arrest and athree-month legal battle was consensual. But he said: "It was a moralerror and I am not proud of it."
The criminal charges against him were dropped at the end ofAugust, but Diallo has filed a civil lawsuit in New York seeking unspecifieddamages. Strauss-Kahn has asked for the case to be dismissed on the grounds ofdiplomatic immunity.
The case abruptly ended his globe-trotting IMF career andhis plans to run in next April's French presidential election. Opinion pollsshow that both remaining Socialist contenders for the nomination -- FrancoisHollande and Martine Aubry -- are in the lead against conservative incumbentNicolas Sarkozy.