Washington: Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Thursday left
his Washington home, believed to be en route to France via New
York, one week after sexual assault charges were sensationally
dropped against the former IMF chief.
Strauss-Kahn, expected to be French President Nicolas
Sarkozy's main challenger in 2012 elections before the scandal
broke in May, left his home in Washington's plush Georgetown
neighborhood at around 6:00 am (1000 GMT).
Climbing into a taxi with his wife Anne Sinclair after
several suitcases had been loaded into the vehicle, Strauss-
Kahn waved briefly and smiled after kissing an unidentified
young woman goodbye, a news agency journalist said.
Members of Strauss-Kahn's inner circle say he has a
ticket to France departing from New York Saturday evening.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, resigned as the International Monetary
Fund's managing director in May after he was arrested and
charged with the sexual assault and attempted rape of a hotel
maid.
Last week, he walked free when a judge in New York
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.
His apparently 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 next
year.
Strauss-Kahn, a respected economist and former finance
minister, had been the favorite for the race, but his
political career has been left in tatters by the humiliating
sex case.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, September 01, 2011, 21:23