French police question Strauss-Kahn accuser

French police yesterday questioned a French writer over her claim that former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in 2003, in a case that could wreck his hopes of a political return.

Judicial officials said detectives from the Paris violent crimes squad interviewed Tristane Banon, 32, who accused Mr Strauss-Kahn of trying to force himself on her “like a rutting chimpanzee”.

Paris police have been asked by magistrates to look into her complaint lodged last week against the ex-head of the International Monetary Fund, who is also accused of sex crimes in New York. Prosecutors will then decide whether or not to charge the 62-year-old, who was formerly the French opposition Socialists’ best hope to beat Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s presidential election.

Ms Banon – the god-daughter of Mr Strauss-Kahn’s second wife, Brigitte Guillemette – accuses him of assaulting her in a Paris flat in 2003 as she interviewed him for a book she was writing. Mr Strauss-Kahn has dismissed the accusations as “imaginary”, and his lawyer said yesterday that his client filed a lawsuit for defamation against Ms Banon late last week.

In an interview published last week online by L’Express magazine, she repeated her account of the alleged attack, saying Mr Strauss-Kahn had “his hands in my pants after he ripped off my jeans and bra.”

Mr Strauss-Kahn’s Socialist allies branded Ms Banon an opportunist.

“Clearly certain people are not happy about the return of Dominique Strauss-Kahn,” Socialist MP Jean-Marie Le Guen told reporters last week.

Ms Banon turned up for questioning by police yesterday morning and left in the early afternoon, said judicial officials who asked not to be named. They and people close to Ms Banon gave no further details.