Strauss-Kahn to face accuser next year

PARIS, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be confronted by a French writer who accused him of sexual assault in 2003, she said.

Tristane Banon, 32, told an interviewer this week she intends to meet Strauss-Kahn face-to-face next year, the BBC reported Friday.

The two will face each other in June 2012 in the presence of prosecutors investigating Banon's allegations.

"The police unit asked me whether I was prepared to accept a confrontation," she said. "Obviously, I said 'Yes.' I want him in front of me so he can look into my eyes and say to my face that I imagined it."

Banon alleged Strauss-Kahn, 62, lured her to an empty Paris apartment under the guise of giving her an interview for a book she was writing. She said he then tried to force himself on her and attempted to pull her jeans off before she was able to escape.

The woman first made allegations against Strauss-Kahn on a television show in 2007.

Strauss-Kahn admitted to making "an advance" on Banon, but denied the accusation of sexual assault, authorities said. He filed a slander suit against the writer.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers confirmed the 2012 meeting Friday, saying he "had let the service in charge of this case know that he was at its disposal."

Strauss-Kahn is still facing a civil suit by Nafissatou Diallo, who alleged he assaulted her in a New York hotel. The criminal charges against Strauss-Kahn in that case were dropped.