Strauss-Kahn steps down as IMF chief
France's Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under pressures over alleged sexual assault charges that he strongly denies.
"It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the Executive Board my resignation from my post of Managing Director of the IMF," AFP quoted Strauss-Kahn as saying on Thursday. "I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me," he said. "I want to protect this institution which I have served with honor and devotion, and especially-especially-I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence," he went on to say.
The leading French politician, who is jailed in New York's notorious Rikers Island, awaits a grand jury decision on whether to indict him on charges of the alleged sexual assault and attempted rape of a 32-year-old Manhattan hotel chambermaid.
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