PARIS, May 15 (UPI) -- The International Monetary Fund Sunday replaced French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn as its chief after he was accused of sexual assault in New York.
The IMF named John Lipsky, the organization's first deputy managing director, acting managing director in place of Strauss-Kahn, who until his arrest was widely expected to be the Socialist candidate for president of France, The New York Times reported.
Lipsky is a former U.S. Treasury manager and a former banker at JP Morgan.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, was awaiting arraignment Sunday afternoon in Manhattan, the Times said.
Lawyer Benjamin Brafman told the Times he would be representing Strauss-Kahn with William Taylor, a lawyer in Washington.
"We have not yet been able to meet with our client and we may have more to say tomorrow," Brafman told the newspaper by phone. He said Strauss-Kahn was being housed at the police department's Special Victims Unit.
Strauss-Kahn was detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport and charged early Sunday morning with sexually assaulting a maid at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan Saturday.
Brafman said in New York that Strauss-Kahn "will plead not guilty" when he appears in court late Sunday and urged France not to make a rush to judgment in the matter.
Strauss-Kahn is the current head of the International Monetary Fund and considered a front-runner to challenge President Nicolas Sarkozy on behalf of the Socialist party in next year's election.
Officials of Sarkozy's UMP party said Strauss-Kahn's political career was over, and a leader of the far-right National Front predicted it would help fill the vacuum.
"He's definitely discredited," Marine Le Pen said Sunday on French television. "The charges mark the end of his campaign for the presidency, and will likely prompt the IMF to ask him to leave his post."
The head of the Christian Democratic party, Christine Boutin, told French television she suspected the incident had been a politically motivated set-up designed to derail Strauss-Kahn's candidacy.
