Strauss-Kahn arrest: Maid 'did not know' IMF leader

The woman, 32, told New York police Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in his hotel suite on 14 May and picked him out at an identity parade.

Mr Strauss-Kahn denies all the charges.

An opinion poll suggests 57% in France believe the charges are part of a plot against him.

The maid's lawyer, Jeffrey Shapiro, said his client "had no idea who this man [Mr Strauss-Kahn] was when she went into the room" and only learned his identity the following day.

"The idea that someone would suggest she was involved in some form of conspiracy is ridiculous," he said. "This is someone who has been the victim of a violent act."

Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, is currently on suicide watch at New York's infamous Rikers Island prison. He will be back in court on Friday.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said Mr Strauss-Kahn is not in a position to run the IMF and an interim replacement should be named.

Support in France

The maid is now living through an "extraordinary" trauma and is in hiding, Mr Shapiro says.

"It's not just my opinion that this woman is honest," Jeffrey Shapiro said. "The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reached the same conclusion. This is a woman with no agenda."

He said his client came originally from the West African state of Guinea. She arrived in the US seven years ago, along with her daughter, now 15, and had been in her job for three years.

"There is no way in which there is any aspect of this event which could be construed consensual in any manner," Mr Shapiro said.

However, Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, has said defence lawyers believe the forensic evidence "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter".

Public opinion in France appears to be largely on the side of Mr Strauss-Kahn, who until his arrest was considered one of the leading candidates for the French presidential election next year; Kazinform cites BBC News.

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