Sexual Assualt Charges: IMF chief case ‘damning’, says US senator

WASHINGTON: US Senator John Kerry said on Tuesday that the circumstances surrounding International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s alleged assault of a hotel maid were “very troubling if not damning”.

“You’ve got to give it a few days to let that develop. But if the evidence is what it appears to be, I think it would be very difficult for him to manage. It’s very troubling,” Kerry told reporters. “We have in America a presumption of innocence, but obviously the circumstances are very troubling if not damning.”

Meanwhile, investment giant Pimco’s chief executive Mohamed El-Erian said he was not interested in leading the IMF.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2011.