Rape bid inquiry into ex-IMF boss dropped

But the prosecutor said Mr Strauss-Kahn admitted to sexual aggression against the French writer.

Tristane Banon had come forward to accuse Mr Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape in 2003 following his arrest in May over a rape accusation involving a new York hotel chambermaid.

The prosecutor’s office said Mr Strauss-Kahn admitted to sexual aggression against Ms Banon but that it was too late to prosecute for that charge, because the incident happened in 2003.

Ms Banon said Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her during an interview for a book. She claims he grabbed her hand and arm before the two fell to the floor of his apartment and fought for several minutes while the politician tried to rape her.

He had publicly called the claim imaginary and insisted in an televised interview last month that “no act of aggression, no violence” had taken place.

Mr Strauss-Kahn quit his job as head of the International Monetary Fund after the New York case and was considered a top contender for next year’s French presidential elections before his May arrest in New York.

Charges he tried to rape hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo in the city were dropped in August by the prosecutor due to concerns about her credibility.

Mr Strauss-Kahn had acknowledged through lawyers a sexual encounter took place but contended that it was consensual.

In an interview on French television last month he said it “was not only an inappropriate relationship, but more than that, it was an error”.

He added: “it was a failing, a failing vis-a-vis my wife, my children and my friends but also a failing vis-a-vis the French people, who had vested their hopes for change in me.

“I think it was a moral failing and I am not proud of it. I regret it infinitely.”