DSK, maid accuser Diallo agree to settle civil suit

Dominique Strauss-Kahn and a New York hotel maid who accused the former IMF chief of sexually assaulting her agreed Monday to settle her civil lawsuit against him for an undisclosed sum, ending one chapter of a scandal that cost Strauss-Kahn his job and derailed his political career in France.

At a brief hearing in New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx, Justice Douglas McKeon said the terms of deal, which includes settlement of a countersuit filed by Strauss-Kahn, would remain confidential.

Strauss-Kahn, 63, was not required to appear in New York and remained in Paris. His accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, was present.

"I thank everybody, and I thank God," Diallo said in a statement outside the courthouse after the hearing.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, William Taylor and Amit Mehta, said in an emailed statement: "On behalf of Mr. Strauss-Kahn, we are pleased to have arrived at a resolution of this matter. We are grateful to Judge McKeon whose patience and forbearance allowed this agreement to be formulated."