Strauss-Kahn accuser sues N.Y. newspaper

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NEW YORK, July 5 (UPI) -- The New York hotel maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault sued a New York newspaper Tuesday for libel for reporting she was a prostitute.

The defamation suit was in response to the New York Post for the headline "DSK maid a hooker" and stories reporting she was a prostitute and had sex with Strauss-Kahn for money, the New York Daily News reported.

The woman accused Strauss-Kahn, who resigned his post as the head of the International Monetary Fund, of sexually assaulting her in May after she entered his hotel suite to clean it.

"All of these statements are false, have subjected the plaintiff to humiliation, scorn and ridicule throughout the world by falsely portraying her as a prostitute," the suit said.

The woman, an immigrant from Guinea, seeks unspecified damages for the Post reports, the Daily News reported. Five reporters also were named in the suit.

A New York Post spokeswoman said the newspaper stands by its reporting.

The lawsuit filed in New York was the latest twist in the case.

The top investigator said prosecutors will agree to drop the charges either at Strauss-Kahn's next court date in two weeks or sooner, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

"We all know this case is not sustainable," the source told the Post Monday.

The credibility of the hotel housekeeper who accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in May "is so bad now, we know we cannot sustain a case with her," the person said. "She is not to be believed in anything that comes out of her mouth -- which is a shame, because now we may never know what happened in that hotel room."

Prosecutors said Friday they had issues with the woman's credibility and agreed to allow Strauss-Kahn to be released on his own recognizance. The woman's attorney accused Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. of being afraid of losing a high-profile case and said his client was being made a sacrificial lamb.

In France, meanwhile, a French novelist and journalist officially filed an attempted-rape charge against Strauss-Kahn, the Daily News reported.

Tristane Banon, 32, claims Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her during a February 2002 interview. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers said her accusations were "imaginary" and they planned to countersue her for defamation.

Euronews reported that lawyers for the French journalist had begun the formal legal proceedings.

In an interview with French magazine L'Express, Banon said seeing a freed Strauss-Kahn "eating in a luxury restaurant with friends made me ill."