French writer Tristane Banon is to file a complaint for attempted rape against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, her lawyer says.
Ms Banon accuses Mr Strauss-Kahn of trying to assault her as she tried to interview him in a Paris flat in 2003.
Mr Strauss-Kahn said he would sue Ms Banon for making false statements.
He was recently freed from house arrest in New York in a separate alleged case. He denies sexually assaulting a hotel maid in the city on 14 May.
It was shortly after Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York that Ms Banon came forward to say that he had tried to assault her.
She did not go to the police at the time, but did raise the allegation in a TV chat show in 2007, when Mr Strauss-Kahn's name was bleeped out.
Ms Banon's lawyer, David Koubbi, said on Monday that she had instructed him "to file a formal criminal complaint for attempted rape" against Mr Strauss-Kahn. He said the complaint would be filed on Tuesday to a Paris prosecutor.
"These acts are extremely serious," Mr Koubbi said as he announced the legal action in France. "These events were combined with a violence that was absolutely remarkable for these kinds of cases."
He said the alleged incident took place in February 2003, and not in 2002 as previously reported.
'Word against word'
Ms Banon, 32, has claimed that during the interview, Mr Strauss-Kahn said he would only speak to her if she held his hand.
She said she had not pursued the case eight years ago because at the time, "everyone told me it would never succeed".
But she said that following the allegations in New York there was "perhaps a chance to finally be listened to".
"If I want one day to put an end to this hell that has lasted eight years, it needs to be tried in court," she added.
"I'm well aware that in these kinds of cases, where it's one person's word against another - without even mentioning people who are that powerful - suspects are often released."
Mr Strauss-Kahn's French lawyers said on Monday they had been instructed to file a legal complaint against Ms Banon for making false statements about "imaginary" events.
Presidential bid 'unlikely'
Mr Strauss-Kahn had been a leading contender to be the French Socialist Party's presidential candidate before his arrest in May.
2006: Publication of Sexus Politicus, book by Christophe Deloire and Christophe Dubois, with chapter on Mr Strauss-Kahn and his tendency of "seduction to the point of obsession"
2008: Mr Strauss-Kahn admits an affair with IMF colleague; he admits an "error of judgement"
2011: Mr Strauss-Kahn arrested on 14 May in New York, accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid
16 May: Writer Tristane Banon comes forward to say Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to assault her in an interview nearly a decade before
1 July: Mr Strauss-Kahn freed without bail from New York house arrest
Concerns about the reliability of his accuser in New York have left that case reportedly in trouble, and led to speculation that he might return to French politics.
However, on Monday Socialist Party spokesman Benoit Hamon said the idea that Mr Strauss-Kahn could now run for the presidency was "the weakest" of all possible scenarios.
Ms Banon's mother, Anne Mansouret, herself a politician from Mr Strauss-Kahn's centre-left Socialist Party, said she had persuaded her daughter not to file a complaint at the time of the alleged incident.
But Ms Mansouret has said she is "revolted" by the gleeful reaction of many men in France to news the case in New York might fail.
Mr Koubbi told L'Express that he and his client had decided to press charges in mid-June, and that the timing of the decision was not linked to Mr Strauss-Kahn's US trial.
He had previously said it would not be filed until "later", to avoid any competition with the New York case against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
"I have always said that the French case and the American case ought not be linked," Mr Koubbi said on Monday.
Ms Banon is the god-daughter of Mr Strauss-Kahn's second wife, Brigitte Guillemette.
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been released from house arrest and had his $6m (£3.7m) cash bail and bond returned, reports say.
Prosecutors are said to have agreed that Mr Strauss-Kahn should be freed "on his own recognisance," meaning he must simply promise to appear in court.
He is accused of sexually assaulting a maid in a New York hotel on 14 May.
But the case is reported to be close to collapse after serious doubts arose about the credibility of his accuser.
The 62-year-old French politician - who had been seen as a leading candidate for the French presidency - appeared in court in New York on Friday over the sexual assault case.
"I want to remind all of you that at each appearance in the last six weeks, we asked you and asked the world not to rush to judgement - now i think you can understand why," said Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, after leaving the courtroom.
"We believe the next step will lead to the complete dismissal of the charges," he added.
The only defence Dominique Strauss-Kahn has is that this sexual encounter was consensual. That it a lie”
End QuoteLawyer for alleged victim
The government has agreed to return Mr Strauss-Kahn's bail and bond money but has said he is unable to leave the US.
"I understand that the circumstances of this case have changed substantially and I agree the risk that he would not be here has receded quite a bit. I release Mr Strauss-Kahn at his own recognisance," Justice Michael Obus told the court on Friday.
In earlier court hearings, prosecutors had spoken of the strength of their case. One attorney said the proof against him was "substantial".
After Friday's hearing, the alleged victim's lawyer, Kenneth P Thomson, maintained that his client's story was genuine and that Mr Strauss-Kahn was guilty of sexual assault charges.
"The only defence Dominique Strauss-Kahn has is that this sexual encounter was consensual. That it a lie," he said.
Whatever the merits of this new evidence, or of the character of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French felt particularly aggrieved at the way the case was conducted in the days after his arrest.
It was not only his reputation that was tarnished, but also that of the French nation in the eyes of the international community. The "perp walk", the parading of the accused, the headlines such as "Chez Perv" and "Frog Legs It", were widely perceived as insulting and humiliating.
And already the French media is talking about Mr Strauss-Kahn's rehabilitation, even though there is unambiguous DNA evidence that a sexual encounter did take place.
The list of socialist candidates for next year's presidential election is still open and will be for two more weeks. But it is surely unthinkable that Dominique Strauss-Kahn will re-enter the race.
Aside from the allegations in New York, there has been too much written about his previous encounters and his questionable behaviour towards women.
The maid claims that Mr Strauss-Kahn chased her down a hallway in his expensive hotel suite in the Sofitel hotel, tried to pull down her pantyhose and forced her to perform oral sex.
However, law enforcement officials have now told US media the accuser has repeatedly lied since the alleged attack on 14 May.
The officials believe the woman lied on her application for asylum in the US, particularly over an allegation that she had been raped while at home in Guinea, in West Africa.
"She actually recounted the entire story to prosecutors and later said it was false," one law enforcement official told the Associated Press news agency.
But prosecutors have not necessarily reached a new conclusion over the allegations against Mr Strauss-Kahn and have not decided whether to downgrade the charges, the official said.
Investigators are also not backing away from earlier evidence which showed semen had been found on the maid's uniform.
Mr Strauss-Kahn has been under house arrest in a New York apartment since posting a $6m (£3.7m) cash bail and bond in May.
He is charged with seven counts including four more serious felony charges - two of criminal sexual acts, one of attempted rape and one of sexual abuse - plus three misdemeanour offences, including unlawful imprisonment.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, who resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund to defend himself, vigorously denies the charges.
The sex assault case against former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn appears to be in trouble amid reported concerns over the alleged victim's credibility.
Law enforcement officials have told US media the accuser has repeatedly lied since the alleged attack on 14 May.
The Guinean-born maid also appeared to have lied about her asylum application, officials reportedly said.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is due in court on Friday. His lawyers are expected to ask for his bail conditions to be relaxed.
The 62-year-old French politician has been under house arrest in a New York apartment since posting a $6m (£3.7m) cash bail and bond in May. He has armed guards, electronic surveillance and wears an electronic ankle monitor.
'Extraordinary boost'
He is charged with seven counts including four felony charges - two of criminal sexual acts, one of attempted rape and one of sexual abuse - plus three misdemeanour offences, including unlawful imprisonment.
Whatever the merits of this new evidence, or of the character of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French felt particularly aggrieved at the way the case was conducted in the days after his arrest.
It was not only his reputation that was tarnished, but also that of the French nation in the eyes of the international community. The "perp walk", the parading of the accused, the headlines such as "Chez Perv" and "Frog Legs It", were widely perceived as insulting and humiliating.
And already the French media is talking about Mr Strauss-Kahn's rehabilitation, even though there is unambiguous DNA evidence that a sexual encounter did take place.
The list of socialist candidates for next year's presidential election is still open and will be for two more weeks. But it is surely unthinkable that Dominique Strauss-Kahn will re-enter the race.
Aside from the allegations in New York, there has been too much written about his previous encounters and his questionable behaviour towards women.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, who resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund to defend himself, vigorously denies the charges.
In earlier court hearings, prosecutors had spoken of the strength of their case. One attorney said the proof against him was "substantial".
But US media now report that prosecutors plan to outline their concerns about the 32-year-old maid's credibility to the judge in Friday's unscheduled court hearing.
Although forensic tests found unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter between Mr Strauss-Kahn and the woman, prosecutors now do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself, the The New York Times reports.
Law enforcement officials believe there are inconsistencies over claims the woman made in her application for asylum, particularly over an allegation that she had been raped in her native West African state of Guinea, US media reports.
The maid told the authorities that Mr Strauss-Kahn accosted her after she entered his room in New York's Sofitel hotel to clean it.
The defence team had been expected to argue that a sexual encounter occurred, but that it was consensual.
In recent weeks, they had claimed to have information that "gravely undermined" the credibility of the woman, but the New York Times says it was the prosecutors' own investigators who uncovered the current reported inconsistencies.
"His presence alongside us would be decisive for our success in the presidential election”
End QuoteJack LangFrance's Socialist Party
Until his arrest, Mr Strauss-Kahn was seen as a leading candidate to be the next centre-left French presidential candidate and challenger to conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.
There are still two weeks left for socialist candidates to put their name forward for next year's presidential election, and one ally, Michele Sabban, has called for the process to be suspended to give Mr Strauss-Kahn the opportunity to be part of it.
Others in the party are being more cautious about his chances of standing, although many agree that if his name is cleared he could still be an asset in the campaign.
"His presence alongside us would be decisive for our success in the presidential election," said former minister Jack Lang, on BFMTV.
The BBC's Christian Fraser says it seems unthinkable that Mr Strauss-Kahn could still enter the race to be president.
In the days after his arrest, his reputation was further tarnished by a litany of stories about his reputation as a womaniser.
The issues sparked some soul searching in France about attitudes in general towards sexual harassment and abuse, and the treatment of women in the workplace, our correspondent says.
On Wednesday, France's former Finance Minister Christine Lagarde was officially named as Mr Strauss-Kahn's replacement at the IMF.
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn complained about being handcuffed and initially claimed diplomatic immunity when he was arrested for sexual assault in New York, official documents reveal.
He has since resigned from the IMF and is living on bail in New York.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault on a hotel chambermaid.
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, refused to comment on the release of the transcripts.
Airport ruse
The transcripts reveal details of how hotel staff and police investigators managed to detain Mr Strauss-Kahn as he attempted to leave the country on an Air France jet.
As has previously been reported, Mr Strauss-Kahn phoned the Sofitel Hotel about 1530 local time (1930 GMT), saying he had left his mobile phone.
While police listened in, the hotel promised to return it to him at the Air France terminal at JFK International Airport. Instead, police arrived to arrest him.
At the airport police station, detectives ordered Mr Strauss-Kahn to empty his pockets, the documents show, followed by this exchange:
Detective Maharaj: "Please have a seat."
Defendant: "Is that [handcuffing] necessary?"
Det Maharaj: "Yes, it is."
Defendant: "I have diplomatic immunity."
Det Maharaj: "Where is you passport?"
Ten minutes later, Mr Strauss-Kahn asked if he could be handcuffed "in the front", and five minutes after that, he said, "I need to make a call and let them know I won't be at my meeting tomorrow. These handcuffs are tight."
Breakfast
Five hours later, at 2100 (1600 GMT) at Manhattan Special Victims Squad:
Defendant: "Do I need a lawyer?"
Detective Rivera: "It is your right to have one in this country if you want. I don't know if you have some kind of diplomatic status."
Defendant: "No, no, no. I'm not trying to use that. I just want to know if I need a lawyer."
Det Rivera: "That is up to you."
Several days after his arrest, the IMF said Mr Strauss-Kahn, as managing director, had only limited immunity that was not applicable in the New York case.
Two hours after Mr Strauss-Kahn asked whether he needed a lawyer, he told the detectives the lawyer had told him not to talk.
The following morning, the transcript shows Mr Strauss-Kahn asking for some eggs for breakfast, followed by a sandwich.
The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has appeared at a Manhattan court, charged with sexually assaulting a chamber maid at a luxury hotel last month.
The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Khan, has entered a plea of not guilty in a New York court to charges of attempted rape and sexual assault.
He stands accused of assaulting a maid at the Manhattan hotel where he was staying on 14 May.
The claims led to his arrest on a plane that was about to take off for Paris.
His next court date is set for 18 July. If found guilty, the 62-year-old faces up to 25 years in prison.
Mr Strauss-Kahn arrived at the New York Supreme Court on Monday with his wife, the French television journalist Anne Sinclair.
A group of hotel workers shouted, "Shame on you!" in a show of solidarity with the maid who accuses him of attacking her.
His formal plea before Judge Michael Obus sets the stage for a lengthy trial process. The full trial is likely to start in the autumn.
Police charged him on 15 May on seven counts, including attempted rape, criminal sexual assault, sex abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.
Mr Strauss-Kahn spent four days behind bars in Rikers Island prison, before being bailed.
He has since been under house arrest and an armed guard, first in a Manhattan apartment and now in a deluxe townhouse.
The arrest made headline news around the world. It rocked the political establishment in France, where Mr Strauss-Kahn was considered a potential contender in next year's presidential elections.
Many in France believe that the Socialist party figure has been mistreated, but the case has also sparked a national debate about sexual harassment.
Mr Strauss-Kahn resigned his post at the IMF after his arrest. The organisation has yet to name a permanent replacement.
The prosecution says it is confident it has DNA samples which prove the woman's allegations against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
Mr Brafman has previously defended a string of high-profile clients, including Michael Jackson.
On 16 May, he insisted any forensic evidence "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter", indicating the defence will admit a sexual encounter took place, but argue that it was consensual.
NEW YORK – The maid came from one of the world's poorest countries to the U.S., working to support the teen daughter she raised alone. To her, the penthouse suite at the Sofitel Hotel was just another empty room to clean.
She says she had no idea there was a man inside or that he was a famous French politician. She says he was naked, chased her down and tried to rape her.
The man, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, remained jailed under a suicide watch Wednesday as a lawyer for the woman sought to rebut whispered allegations that her charges were a conspiracy and a setup.
Calls intensified for the 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn to step down as head of the powerful International Monetary Fund, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying Strauss-Kahn "is obviously not in a position to run" the agency.
Strauss-Kahn was one of France's most high-profile politicians and a potential candidate for president in next year's elections. His arrest on charges including attempted rape shocked France and cast intense attention on his accuser, a 32-year-old chambermaid from the West African nation of Guinea.
On Tuesday her lawyer, Jeffrey Shapiro, said he had no doubts his client was telling the truth about her encounter with Strauss-Kahn on Saturday.
"She came from a country in which poor people had little or no justice, and she's now in a country where the poor have the same rights as do the rich and the powerful," Shapiro said. "What (Strauss-Kahn) might be able to get away with in some countries, he can't here in this country."
Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said at his client's arraignment this week that defense lawyers believe the forensic evidence "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter."
But Shapiro dismissed suggestions that the woman had made up the charges or tried to cover up a consensual encounter.
"This is nothing other than a physical, sexual assault by this man on this young woman," Shapiro said in an interview in his Manhattan office. He said that the woman didn't know who was staying in the 28th-floor suite she went to clean on Saturday afternoon, before she said she was attacked.
"She did not know who this man was until a day or two after this took place," Shapiro said. "She had no idea who this man was."
Strauss-Kahn is also charged with sex abuse, a criminal sex act, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching. The most serious charge carries five to 25 years in prison.
Because of his high profile, he was being held Tuesday at Rikers Island in a section of the jail that normally houses prisoners with highly contagious diseases like measles or tuberculosis. Corrections spokesman Stephen Morello said Strauss-Kahn has been placed in a wing with about 14 cells, all of them empty except for his.
Norman Seabrook, president of the correction officers union, said Strauss-Kahn did or said something during a mental health evaluation that concerned doctors, and he is being monitored day and night.
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of prisoner medical information, said Strauss-Kahn had not tried to harm himself.
Strauss-Kahn's cell has a toilet and a sink. He takes his meals there, with breakfast at 5 a.m., lunch at 11 a.m. and dinner at 4 or 5 p.m.
Morello said Strauss-Kahn can occasionally leave his cell and wander the wing, and can go outside for an hour each day. Because he is awaiting trial, Strauss-Kahn isn't required to wear a prison uniform. He may bring his own clothing and wear what he chooses, except for his shoes.
Meanwhile in Europe, Strauss-Kahn's past conduct with other women was getting new scrutiny.
The IMF investigated him following a 2008 affair with an employee, the Hungarian-born economist Piroska Nagy. The institution eventually cleared him of wrongdoing, but a person close to Nagy said Tuesday that she had sent the organization a letter at the time warning about his behavior toward women.
The letter voiced "doubts about Dominique Strauss-Kahn's suitability for running an international institution," according to the person, who declined to be identified, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
The New York Times published an excerpt of the letter, along with an account that said Strauss-Kahn had aggressively pursued Nagy, sent her sexually explicit messages and once had her summoned from the bathroom to speak to him.
The scandal comes at a delicate time for the IMF, which is trying to shore up teetering economies in Europe. The IMF is an immensely powerful agency that loans money to countries to stabilize the world economy. In exchange it often imposes strict austerity measures.
Strauss-Kahn seemed to anticipate that his problems with women could be a political liability ahead of France's presidential elections.
The French daily newspaper Liberation reported this week that at a meeting with Strauss-Kahn in April, he speculated that his presidential campaign might be subjected to low blows over "money, women and my Jewishness."
Strauss-Kahn also theorized that his enemies might try to pay someone to accuse him of rape, according to the newspaper.
The Associated Press does not name victims of alleged sex crimes unless they agree to it. But in the days since the alleged attack in Manhattan, details are beginning to emerge about Strauss-Kahn's accuser.
The woman came to the United States under "very difficult circumstances" in 2004 from Guinea, one of the world's most destitute countries, said Shapiro, her lawyer.
Guinea's average annual income of $1,000 per person is lower than Haiti's and Rwanda's and about the same as Afghanistan's, according to the CIA World Factbook.
The woman's daughter, then 8, came with her. The girl's father is dead, and they have no other relatives in the United States, Shapiro said.
"They are very much alone in this world," he said.
The United States gave the pair political asylum, he said, though he was unsure of the reason.
The woman found work as a chambermaid in hotels, he said, eventually landing a job in 2008 at the French-owned Sofitel Hotel on 44th Street in Manhattan. The hotel said she was a satisfactory employee.
The woman and her daughter moved into an apartment building in the Bronx about 10 months ago, said Zulema Zuniga, who lives on the same floor. The neighbors would occasionally meet in the elevator and say hello.
"She was very nice," Zuniga said.
But this humble immigrant life was shattered, police say, on Saturday afternoon, when the woman entered Strauss-Kahn's suite at the Sofitel to clean the room.
Strauss-Kahn came out of the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, the woman told police. Then he dragged her into a bathroom, forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear, she said.
She broke free, fled the room and told hotel security, but Strauss-Kahn was gone by the time detectives arrived, authorities said. They arrested him soon afterward on an airliner that was just about to depart for Europe.
Brafman said he is confident his client will be exonerated once all the physical evidence is collected.
Shapiro, a personal injury attorney, said he was put in touch with the woman through a mutual acquaintance. He said they had not discussed the possibility of a civil lawsuit against Strauss-Kahn.
Media attention has made it impossible for his client to return to her house or to work, Shapiro said. This week television crews and photographers hung around the employee entrance of the Sofitel and loitered outside her apartment, hoping for a glimpse of her.
Shapiro said his client is now in a "safe place," but would not elaborate.
"Her life has now been turned upside down," Shapiro said. "She can't go home, she can't go back to work. ... This has been nothing short of a cataclysmic event in her life."
The maid who has accused International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault is "scared" but will testify against him, her lawyer says.
Jeffrey Shapiro says when the 32-year-old woman discovered Mr Strauss-Kahn's identity a day after the incident she feared for herself and her daughter.
He said there was "nothing consensual about what took place in that hotel room" in New York on 14 May.
Mr Strauss-Kahn denies all the charges.
The woman told New York police Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her and picked him out at an identity parade.
He is charged with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, is currently on suicide watch at New York's infamous Rikers Island prison. He will be back in court on Friday.
His wife, former French television interviewer Anne Sinclair, is thought to be visiting him on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said Mr Strauss-Kahn is not in a position to run the IMF and an interim replacement should be named.
'Man of great power'
Mr Shapiro told NBC television that his client was expected to testify before a grand jury later on Wednesday.
2006: Publication of Sexus Politicus, book by Christophe Deloire and Christophe Dubois, with chapter on Mr Strauss-Kahn and his tendency to "seduction to the point of obsession"
2007: French journalist Jean Quatremer, Brussels correspondent for Liberation, writes on his blog that Mr Strauss-Kahn "verges on harassment" with his behaviour towards women
2008: Mr Strauss-Kahn admits an affair with a colleague at the IMF; he is cleared of abuse but admits an "error of judgement"
2011: Writer Tristane Banon comes forward to say Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to assault her in 2002; she did not go to the police but did raise the allegation in a TV chat show in 2007, when Mr Strauss-Kahn's name was bleeped out
He said she had only become aware of Mr Strauss-Kahn's identity "a day later when a friend called her to tell her, 'do you have any idea who this man is who did this to you?'".
Mr Shapiro said his client was "scared and incredulous".
"When she found out this encounter was with a man of great power and wealth she feared not only for herself but more importantly for her daughter."
The woman had now been reunited with her 15-year-old daughter in a "safe place", he added.
Mr Shapiro said she had tried to return to her home - a sub-let flat in the Bronx - but had found about 30 people waiting outside.
He said: "She has been in a whirlwind since this has taken place... She has not had a moment of peace, has not been able to return home or seek help.
"She doesn't know what her future will bring."
The woman came originally from the West African state of Guinea. She arrived in the US seven years ago with her daughter and had been in her job at the Sofitel hotel for three years.
Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said on Monday that the defence believe the forensic evidence "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter".
But Mr Shapiro said that "when a jury hears her testimony and sees her in person" it would become clear that "there is nothing consensual about what took place in that hotel room".
He said that his client had "no agenda" and believed it was her responsibility to follow the judicial process "and she will do that".
Support in France
Public opinion in France appears to be largely on the side of Mr Strauss-Kahn, who until his arrest was considered one of the leading candidates for the French presidential election next year.
Lawyer Jeffrey Shapiro: "She had no idea who this man was when she went into the room"
An opinion poll for RMC radio, BDM television and the 20Minutes website found 57% of those who replied believed Mr Strauss-Kahn was the victim of a conspiracy.
That number rose to 70% among those who identified themselves as favouring Mr Strauss-Kahn's centre-left Socialist Party.
The philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, a friend of Mr Strauss-Kahn for 25 years, has spoken out in his defence.
"Nothing in the world can authorise the way this man has been thrown to the dogs," he wrote on his blog.
"I do not know... how a chambermaid could enter on her own the room of one of the most watched people on the planet, against the normal practice in most big New York hotels, which provide for 'cleaning brigades' of at least two people."
But Mr Shapiro said: "The idea that someone would suggest she was involved in some form of conspiracy is ridiculous."
'Difficult position'
The US treasury secretary said the most important thing for the IMF was that it found a leader to fill Mr Strauss-Kahn's shoes.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is on suicide watch at Rikers Island prison
"He is obviously not in a position to run the IMF," Mr Geithner said.
"It is important that the board of the IMF formally put in place for an interim period someone to act as managing director."
It is the first time that a top official from President Barack Obama's administration has publicly spoken about the impact of Mr Strauss-Kahn's alleged sexual assault.
However, Mr Geithner refused to comment on the case or the details of the charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Mr Strauss-Kahn was in a "very difficult position" and it was "important that the IMF... is able to run effectively".
The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Washington says that with the Americans seemingly distancing themselves from Mr Strauss-Kahn and some European figures saying similar things, there appears to be a groundswell of opinion that he should go.
Since Mr Strauss-Kahn's arrest last Saturday, his deputy John Lipsky has been serving as acting managing director.
The maid who accused International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault did not know who he was at the time of the alleged incident, her lawyer says.
The woman, 32, told New York police Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in his hotel suite on 14 May and picked him out at an identity parade.
Mr Strauss-Kahn denies all the charges.
An opinion poll suggests 57% in France believe the charges are part of a plot against him.
The maid's lawyer, Jeffrey Shapiro, said his client "had no idea who this man [Mr Strauss-Kahn] was when she went into the room" and only learned his identity the following day.
"The idea that someone would suggest she was involved in some form of conspiracy is ridiculous," he said. "This is someone who has been the victim of a violent act."
Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, is currently on suicide watch at New York's infamous Rikers Island prison. He will be back in court on Friday.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said Mr Strauss-Kahn is not in a position to run the IMF and an interim replacement should be named.
Support in France
The maid is now living through an "extraordinary" trauma and is in hiding, Mr Shapiro says.
"It's not just my opinion that this woman is honest," Jeffrey Shapiro said. "The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reached the same conclusion. This is a woman with no agenda."
Mr Geithner refused to be drawn on the legal challenges facing Mr Strauss-Kahn
He said his client came originally from the West African state of Guinea. She arrived in the US seven years ago, along with her daughter, now 15, and had been in her job for three years.
"There is no way in which there is any aspect of this event which could be construed consensual in any manner," Mr Shapiro said.
However, Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, has said defence lawyers believe the forensic evidence "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter".
Public opinion in France appears to be largely on the side of Mr Strauss-Kahn, who until his arrest was considered one of the leading candidates for the French presidential election next year.
An opinion poll for RMC radio, BDM television and the 20Minutes website found 57% of those who replied believed Mr Strauss-Kahn was the victim of a conspiracy.
That number rose to 70% among those who identified themselves as favouring Mr Strauss-Kahn's centre-left Socialist Party.
2006: Publication of Sexus Politicus, book by Christophe Deloire and Christophe Dubois, with chapter on Mr Strauss-Kahn and his tendency to "seduction to the point of obsession"
2007: French journalist Jean Quatremer, Brussels correspondent for Liberation, writes on his blog that Mr Strauss-Kahn "verges on harassment" with his behaviour towards women
2008: Mr Strauss-Kahn admits an affair with a colleague at the IMF; he is cleared of abuse but admits an "error of judgement"
2011: Writer Tristane Banon comes forward to say Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to assault her in 2002; she did not go to the police but did raise the allegation in a TV chat show in 2007, when Mr Strauss-Kahn's name was bleeped out
The philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, a friend of Mr Strauss-Kahn for 25 years, has spoken out in his defence.
"Nothing in the world can authorise the way this man has been thrown to the dogs," he wrote on his blog.
"I do not know... how a chambermaid could enter on her own the room of one of the most watched people on the planet, against the normal practice in most big New York hotels, which provide for 'cleaning brigades' of at least two people."
Mr Strauss-Kahn is able to leave his cell occasionally and is allowed outside for one hour each day.
According to the NYPD, the maid told officers that when she entered Mr Strauss-Kahn's suite on Saturday afternoon, he emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her and sexually assaulted her.
The woman was able to break free and alert the authorities, a NYPD spokesman added.
Impact on IMF
Addressing the Harvard Club in New York on Tuesday, Timothy Geithner said the most important thing for the IMF was that it found a leader to fill Mr Strauss-Kahn's shoes.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is on suicide watch at Rikers Island prison
"He is obviously not in a position to run the IMF," Mr Geithner said.
"It is important that the board of the IMF formally put in place for an interim period someone to act as managing director."
It is the first time that a top official from President Barack Obama's administration has publicly spoken about the impact of Mr Strauss-Kahn's alleged sexual assault.
However, Mr Geithner refused to comment on the case or the details of the charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Mr Strauss-Kahn was in a "very difficult position" and it was "important that the IMF... is able to run effectively".
The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Washington says that with the Americans seemingly distancing themselves from Mr Strauss-Kahn and some European figures saying similar things, there appears to be a groundswell of opinion that would like to see him go.
Since Mr Strauss-Kahn's arrest last Saturday, his deputy John Lipsky has been serving as acting managing director of the global lending agency.
Europe 
Ms Banon's claims relate to an incident in Paris nearly a decade ago 
