Former finance chief in storm over sex claims returns to France

New York prosecutors dropped their case against him because of questions about the maid’s credibility.

But the affair cost Strauss-Kahn his job at the helm of the IMF and exposed his personal life to worldwide scrutiny that has stained his image and left the French divided over what he should do next. His high-profile return home yesterday reflects how large he looms.

Few expect Strauss-Kahn to return to French politics soon, but his supporters have been eagerly awaiting his return after three months of legal drama in the US that they saw as unfairly hostile to him.

“I’m moved, I always believed in his innocence. I wanted very much for this to be over,” fellow Socialist Party member Michele Sabban said on i-Tele TV.

Residents of Sarcelles, a working class Paris suburb where Strauss-Kahn is mayor, were largely enthusiastic about his return.

“I’m happy for him. It’s the end of an ordeal. Now...we should leave him alone a little bit,” resident Laurent Giaoui said.

Strauss-Kahn flew in to Paris from New York’s JFK Airport early today and gave a brief wave upon leaving the arrivals hall. Pushing a luggage cart, he did not speak to the large crowd.

His wife, respected former TV personality Anne Sinclair, was at his side, beaming widely. Riot police protected him and the area.

The two then drove to one of their homes, on Place des Vosges. The crush of reporters was so thick that Strauss-Kahn had trouble reaching and opening his front door.

The last time he tried to take an Air France flight out of JFK airport in New York, Strauss-Kahn was pulled out of first class minutes before take-off by police. They were investigating the maid’s claim that hours earlier, he had forced her to perform oral sex and tried to rape her.

He quit his job, spent almost a week in jail, then six weeks of house arrest and nearly two more months barred from leaving the country before Manhattan prosecutors dropped the case last month, saying they no longer trusted the maid, Guinean immigrant Nafissatou Diallo.

Diallo is continuing to press her claims in a lawsuit. Strauss-Kahn denies the allegations.

Strauss-Kahn faces another investigation in France based on accusations by French novelist Tristane Banon, who says he tried to rape her during an interview in 2003. He calls the claim “imaginary”.