French prosecutors launched a preliminary probe yesterday into allegations by a young writer that former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, accused of sex crimes in New York, tried to rape her.

The probe came as the US case against Mr Strauss-Kahn, until recently seen as the favourite to win next year’s French Presidential elections, appeared to be floundering amid doubts over his accuser’s credibility.

French police have been assigned to investigate a complaint lodged by 32-year-old Tristane Banon that Socialist politician Mr Strauss-Kahn assaulted her in a Paris flat in 2003 as she interviewed him for a book she was writing.

Mr Strauss-Kahn has been charged in the United States with sexual assault and attempted rape of a New York hotel maid on May 14, but prosecutors there have admitted to doubts over the alleged victim’s testimony.

The 62-year-old economist pleaded not guilty in New York and dismissed the alleged Paris attack as “imaginary”. His lawyers are planning to sue Ms Banon for defamation over the allegation, which she first made on television in 2007.

But Ms Banon’s lawyer, David Koubbi, insists her complaint is not simply a “her word versus his” dispute, but is backed by supporting evidence.

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