Police question leading French Socialist in Strauss-Kahn inquiry

Jul 20, 2011, 15:57 GMT

Paris - French police on Wednesday questioned former Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande for over an hour as part of their investigation into allegations that Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape a French author eight years ago.

Hollande, who is tipped to win the Socialist nomination for president in next year's elections, appeared relaxed as he arrived for questioning about the claims made by Tristane Banon.

Banon, 32, accuses Strauss-Kahn, 62, of attempting to rape her during an interview in 2003 in Paris. She filed a lawsuit on July 5, days after his release from house arrest in New York, where he is charged with attempting to rape a hotel maid on May 14.

Hollande was Socialist leader at the time of the encounter, Banon's version of which Strauss-Kahn has described as 'imaginary.'

The writer and her mother, a Socialist councillor, say Hollande was aware of the allegations from the start. Banon told police that Hollande called her shortly after the incident to make sure she was all right.

Hollande has said that was approached by Banon's mother, Anne Mansouret, about an incident involving her daughter and Strauss-Kahn, but that she gave him no details and that he had advised her 'if her daughter had a problem, the best thing was for her to talk to the police.' He says he does not remember calling Banon.

While Hollande is not himself accused of any wrongdoing, the speculation about how much he knew about the allegations against Strauss-Kahn could be used against him by his rivals.

After meeting with the police, Hollande denounced the attempts to associate him with the case as 'a political operation' and threatened to sue anyone who tried to implicate him in the affair.

'I have nothing to do with this affair, it's an affair that concerns two people and in no way the Socialist Party and its then first secretary,' he said.

Hollande, who is one of five candidates for the Socialist primary in October, said he had demanded his police interview be brought forward from September to July to clear up the matter.

'I won't return to this (issue),' he said.

In recent weeks Hollande has slipped in opinion polls. Once tipped as the favourite to become president over incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy if chosen to represent the Socialists, he is now neck-and-neck with the incumbent, with both projected in a poll published last week to get 26 per cent of first-round votes.