IMF chief faces calls to quit over rape allegations in New York

Dominique Strauss-Kahn under pressure to resign to protect integrity of organisation before crucial European summit Pressure is building for Dominique Strauss-Kahn to resign as head of the International Monetary Fund following his arrest on charges of attempted rape. Strauss-Kahn, who is being held at Rikers Island penal complex in New York, was denied bail on Monday at a court appearance where prosecutors successfully argued he was a flight risk. The IMF head was arrested on Sunday and charged with the attempted rape of a 32-year old chambermaid. While he has denied all charges, some of those he was due to meet are now calling for him to consider his position. The Austrian finance minister, Maria Fekter, said he was hurting the IMF, while her Spainish counterpart, Elana Salgado, said her sympathies were with the alleged victim. “Considering the situation, that bail was denied, he has to figure out for himself, that he is hurting the institution,” Fekter told journalists as she arrived at a meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels. Salgado said the offences he was accused of were “extraordinarily serious”. She said he needed to decide for himself if he should step down. “If I had to show my solidarity and support for someone it would be toward the woman who has been assaulted, if that is really the case that she has been,” she said. Other European officials were more supportive. “I’m very sad and upset. And he’s a good friend of mine,” the Luxembourg prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, said on Monday. “I didn’t like the pictures I’ve seen on television,” he added, referring to footage that showed Strauss-Kahn in handcuffs being escorted by police outside a New York police station. Strauss-Kahn was arrested on a flight back to Europe where he had been due to host a series of high-level meetings about Europe’s debt crisis. The case has rocked the financial world as the IMF grapples with the European debt crisis. The institution has led the bailouts of Greece, Portugal and Ireland and Strauss-Kahn has been one of the bailout packages’ greatest supporters. After his arrest the IMF’s second-in-command, John Lipsky, was named acting managing director. Prof Tom Cooley, former dean of Stern school of business at New York University, said: “It is a blow to the IMF at a time when they have begun to define a new and important role for the institution in the modern global economy.” But Cooley added that the IMF was “an organisation of consummate professionals with deep professional leadership – so I am sure they will carry on just fine”. The IMF’s board met on Monday to discuss the crisis but made no announcement. Among those being mentioned as possible successors to Strauss-Kahn are Gordon Brown, French finance minister Christine Lagarde, Kemal Dervis, a former finance minister for Turkey who is now at the US public policy thinktank the Brookings Institution, and Mohammad El-Erian, an Egyptian award-winning author who heads the Pimco bond fund. El-Erian is a former IMF staffer. Strauss-Kahn is due back in court on Friday and is expected to plead not guilty. After his hearing on Monday, Benjamin Brafman, the IMF’s boss’s lawyer, said: “This battle has just begun. Mr Strauss-Kahn is innocent of these charges.” Dominique Strauss-Kahn IMF Economics Global economy European Union Euro Euro United States Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 17, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.