Strauss-Kahn to face fresh sexual assault complaint

A FRENCH novelist will file a criminal complaint today accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape, her lawyer said, throwing fresh uncertainty into a fierce national debate about whether the former International Monetary Fund chief can return to his country’s presidential race.

A sexual assault case against Strauss-Kahn in New York has been badly weakened by questions about his accuser’s credibility. As a result, France was consumed yesterday by the question of whether the longtime Socialist Party politician would revive his dream of running against unpopular conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The political world was hit by a new shock when the lawyer for writer Tristane Banon announced she planned to file the complaint in Paris within a day.