IMF chief accused of sexual assault at NYC hotel

NEW YORK – The leader of the International Monetary Fund and a possible candidate for president of France was arrested Sunday in the violent sexual assault of a hotel maid after being yanked from an airplane moments before it was to depart for Paris, police said.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62, was arrested on charges of a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment and was awaiting arraignment. He had been taken off the Air France flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday afternoon by officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was turned over to New York police, said Paul J. Browne, New York Police Department spokesman.His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, did not immediately respond to phone or email messages left by The Associated Press. "We have not yet been able to meet with our client and we may have more to say tomorrow," Brafman told The New York Times late Saturday.