Contrite Strauss-Kahn regrets "moral mistake" in New York

Sep 18, 2011, 19:52 GMT

Paris - Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in a French television interview on Sunday admitted to an 'inappropriate' sexual encounter with hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo and said he regretted his 'mistake.'

'What happened involved neither violence, force, aggression or any criminal act,' he told TF1 in his first interview about the case that ended his IMF career and quashed his ambitions of becoming France's next president.

What transpired was an 'inappropriate relation,' and 'more than that, a mistake vis-a-vis my wife, my children, my friends but also vis-a-vis the French who had placed their hopes for change in me,' he said.

'I think it was a moral mistake and I'm not proud of it,' he said, adding: 'I think I haven't stopped regretting it.'

Before his arrest in New York on May 14 on sexual assault charges including attempting to rape Diallo when she came to clean his suite at the Sofitel, Strauss-Kahn had been the favourite to win next year's election.

The former finance minister, who was dressed in a sombre black suit and tie, admitted that he had wanted to run but said he was 'clearly' no longer a candidate for the Socialist Party nomination.

He would not intervene in any way in the party primaries, he said, refusing to endorse any of the candidates, but calling Mayor of Lille Martine Aubry, who is polling second for the nomination, behind former party leader Francois Hollande, 'a friend.'

The timing of his arrest - just before he was about to announce his candidacy - sparked fierce speculation in France about a possible plot.

Asked about the plot theory, the 62-year-old economist, who had a long-standing reputation as a womanizer, said it was 'possible' he had fallen into a trap.

He claimed the Sofitel had withheld information from his defence team that it had made available to Diallo's lawyers and questioned the hotel's motivations.

He also admitted to having been 'very afraid' about what might happen to him.

'I was trampled and humiliated before even having the chance to say a word,' he said. He had paid dearly for his mistake, he said. 'And I'm still paying for it,' he added.

New York prosecutors dropped the charges against Strauss-Kahn on August 23, saying that while there was evidence of a hurried sexual encounter between Strauss-Kahn and Diallo, they could not rely on her testimony to prove it was forced after she had lied about elements of her past.

He still faces a possible trial after Diallo in August launched civil proceedings against him.

He also faces possible charges in France, where police this week questioned him over allegations by French writer Tristane Banon that he attempted to rape her during an interview in 2003.

Commenting on those allegations Strauss-Kahn said there had been 'no act of aggression, no violence' and reiterated that her version of events was 'imaginary.'

Strauss-Kahn also expressed his gratitude towards his wife, Anne Sinclair, a former star journalist at TF1, who has stood by him throughout.

'She's an extraordinary women. I'm unbelievably lucky to have her by my side,' he said.

He said he understood the reaction of women who had been angered by his attitude towards women and assured he had changed.

'That thoughtlessness, I've lost it forever,' he said.