Paris: Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is to break his silence in a prime time French
television interview over charges he attempted to rape a hotel
maid in New York, a French magazine said on Friday.
"Strauss-Kahn will on Sunday answer questions from Claire
Chazal during the 8:00 pm news on TF1," Le Point said on its
website. Chazal is a friend and former colleague of
Strauss-Kahn`s wife, Anne Sinclair.
Allegations he attempted to rape hotel maid Nafissatou
Diallo in his luxury New York hotel suite in May led to
Strauss-Kahn having to abandon his hopes of standing in next
year`s French presidential election.
Before the alleged attack, opinion polls said the
Socialist politician was the candidate most likely to beat
President Nicolas Sarkozy. Now, France is on tenterhooks to
hear his account of what happened.
While US prosecutors dropped all charges against
Strauss-Kahn after deeming the alleged victim unreliable, he
has been interviewed by French police since returning to Paris
on September 4 over another alleged attempted rape.
French writer Tristane Banon, now 32, alleges that
Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in an empty Paris flat in 2003.
Banon brought her allegation to the police in June after the
New York allegations.
Strauss-Kahn denies both attacks.
The 62-year-old still faces a civil suit from his New
York accuser as well as the Banon claims. He has filed a
defamation suit against the writer.
PTI
