French police question Strauss-Kahn

PARIS -- French police questioned former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn all day yesterday in a probe into a suspected hotel prostitution ring.

Strauss-Kahn, a one-time French presidential hopeful whose chances were derailed by a sexual assault accusation in New York, arrived at the police station in the northern city of Lille for a prearranged morning appointment. He hadn't emerged by last night and French media reported that he would be held overnight.

Police are probing a suspected ring in France and neighboring Belgium that has implicated police and other officials. They have questioned prostitutes who said they had sex with Strauss-Kahn during 2010 and 2011 at a luxury hotel in Paris, a restaurant in the French capital and also in Washington, D.C.

French law permits police, with a judge's approval, to question Strauss-Kahn for up to 96 hours.

Strauss-Kahn lived in Washington while he was head of the IMF before resigning his position in May after he was charged by New York police with attempted rape. The charges were later dropped.

Two men with ties to Strauss-Kahn have been put under preliminary investigation in France on charges including organizing a prostitution ring and misuse of corporate funds.

Strauss-Kahn's name surfaced in the investigation last fall and his attorney has asked that his client be allowed to tell his side of the story. One of his attorneys has said Strauss-Kahn never knew that the women at orgies he attended were prostitutes.

-- AP