Dominique Strauss-Kahn questioned over attempted rape in Paris

Strauss-Kahn has been interviewed by French police investigating alleged attack on journalist Tristane Banon Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been interviewed by French police investigating a second attempted rape allegation. The former head of the International Monetary Fund was questioned on Monday morning by officers carrying out a preliminary inquiry into allegations he attacked the novelist and journalist Tristane Banon when she went to interview him in 2003. Banon, now 32, claims Strauss-Kahn, 62, leapt on her and behaved like a “rutting chimpanzee”, accusations his lawyers describe as “fantasy”. Strauss-Kahn was quizzed by police just over a week after he arrived back in France from New York. Charges that he had sexually assaulted and attempted to rape a New York hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, were dropped after questions about her credibility were raised when it was revealed she had lied to immigration officers in order to stay in the United States. Diallo is now bringing a civil suit. In a statement, Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers said he had asked to be interviewed by police as a “witness” in the Banon case. Friends of the former socialist presidential hopeful said he wanted to “close the [Banon] affair”. The prosecutor’s office has until next month to decide whether to formally put Strauss-Kahn under investigation. In a recent message on her Facebook page, Banon said she was full of “nausea” since Strauss-Kahn’s return to France. Several women protested outside his home in the chic Place des Vosges in Paris at the weekend, demanding that he does not return to politics. Dominique Strauss-Kahn France Europe Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk

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