LAWYERS for Dominique Strauss-Kahn intend to investigate the hotel maid accusing the former IMF chief of attempted rape for evidence of behavioural problems, according to court documents.

FRENCH Finance Minister Christine Lagarde will likely become the next head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the backing of the United States and Japan, the Nikkei financial daily reported, citing unidentified global financial industry sources in Washington.

Former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn moved from a temporary space in a high-rise to a plush, four-bedroom brick townhouse in New York today, where he will remain under house arrest as he awaits trial for attempted rape.

A FRENCH writer who has alleged Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted her nine years ago has not been contacted by US prosecutors who have indicted the former IMF chief on sex charges in New York, her lawyer said yesterday.

The IMF board has said no decision has been made on the future of its chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.