Head of IMF in hotel maid sex attack arrest

The leader of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and potential candidate for the French has been questioned by police over a sex attack on a hotel maid.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was stopped by police on an Air France flight at John F Kennedy International Airport on Saturday night minutes before it was due to take off.

Police issued a statement saying Strauss-Kahn had been “arrested for a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment".

Strauss-Kahn, 62, was being questioned by the NYPD special victims office.

The 32-year-old maid told authorities that she entered Strauss-Kahn's room at the luxury Sofitel hotel not far from Manhattan's Times Square at about 1pm, which she had been told was empty.

She claimed Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her. She said she fought him off, then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform a sex act on him and tried to remove her underwear. But the woman was able to break free again and escaped the room and told hotel staff who called police.

When detectives arrived Strauss-Kahn had left the hotel, leaving behind his mobile phone.