IMF Chief to Force Maid to Perform Oral Sex

He went on to become mayor of Sarcelles, a working-class immigrant suburb of Paris. Hours before Strauss-Kahn was pulled from the flight, a close Socialist Party ally claimed he was the target of a smear campaign by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

'There is now a totally structured and orchestrated campaign, which has already been announced by Mr. Sarkozy and his closest allies, to attack the character of Strauss-Kahn,' Socialist politician Jean-Marie Le Guen told Europe 1 radio.

Formed at the end of World War II, the IMF provides low-cost loans to countries in financial crisis. After 2008, it became increasingly significant after brokering rescue packages for countries like Greece, Pakistan, Iceland, Hungary and Ukraine.

France could face a 'political earthquake' after the arrest of presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The brilliant economist had been widely tipped to replace unpopular Nicolas Sarkozy as head of state.

He was seen as the strongest potential challenger to the conservative Mr Sarkozy in next year's presidential elections, despite not announcing his candidacy. Unless the charges are quickly dropped, they could destroy his chances in a presidential race that is just starting to heat up.

The allegations over his arrest in New York dominated special editions of Paris newspapers and there was also blanket coverage on TV and radio. It is unclear how damaging the allegations could be. A poll for Le Parisien gave him 41 per cent of the votes among supporters of the Socialist Party.

'At the top of the polls,' Strauss-Kahn tweeted proudly in French last December, linking an article that showed him ahead in opinion polls when French voters were asked whom they would choose in a primary.

At a soccer game in a Washington suburb last September, he, his wife and others were seen wearing T-shirts that read, 'Yes we Kahn'.

Strauss-Kahn also noted that he trailed only Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on a list of 100 'global thinkers' compiled last November by Foreign Policy magazine.

He was cited for his 'steely vision at a moment of crisis' - for convincing Germany to help bail out Greece's debt-laden government, and for helping to put the brakes on defaults in Hungary, Pakistan and Ukraine.