Strauss-Kahn to sue French writer over rape charge

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn facing sexual assault charges in New York will sue a French writer, who has accused him of attempted rape, for 'slanderous denunciation'.

Tristane Banon, a 32-year-old journalist and writer, said on Monday that she would make a criminal complaint against Strauss-Kahn, 62, of attempted rape in 2003.

She had made that allegation against the powerful politician in 2007 on television and in an interview with a news website, but had not so far made a formal complaint to authorities.

Banon's decision to file a case against the former IMF chief came as the sexual assault case brought by a hotel maid against him is close to collapse, the Guardian newspaper reported.

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In an interview published on Monday, Banon said she had decided to file her complaint after feeling 'sick' watching Strauss-Kahn freed without bail last week and dining in a New York restaurant.

Guardian said that Tristane Banon was born in 1979 in Neuilly-sur-Seine and is the daughter of Anne Mansouret, a regional councillor in Upper Normandy, and god-daughter of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's second wife Brigitte Guillemette.

She was also a close friend of one of Strauss-Kahn's daughters, Camille, the newspaper said.

Her lawyer, David Koubbi, was said to a magazine that she would be lodging a complaint for attempted rape against Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

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Banon, who took a long time to muster up the courage to voice her grievance, alleged that Strauss-Kahn invited her to an apartment in 2003 on the pretext of giving her an interview but pounced on her like 'a rutting chimpanzee'.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers responded to the latest allegations last night by saying he intended to sue Banon for 'slanderous denunciation'.

The lawyers dismissed the claims as 'imaginary' and said they were 'in the process of compiling a libel complaint' against Banon.

Meanwhile, the New York Post reported on Tuesday that American law authorities will drop all sexual assault charges, made by a New York hotel maid, against Strauss-Kahn soon following the doubts about his accuser's credibility.