12:43pm UK, Sunday September 04, 2011
Robert Nisbet, Europe correspondent
He arrived in the French capital after taking an overnight Air France flight from JFK Airport.
It is the first time he has returned home since his arrest in May.
A judge in New York officially dismissed the case after the prosecution said it had doubts about the truthfulness of the accuser.
It has been claimed the Guinean-born hotel maid lied on her application for asylum.
In a statement, Mr Strauss-Kahn described the last four months as a "terrible and unjust ordeal", and he said he intends "to express himself at greater length" at a later date.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was surrounded by reporters when he first landed in France
He returned with his wife and daughter and surrounded by a swarm of photographers.
His relief was obvious as he smiled and waved at well-wishers.
The arrival coincides with the start of the primary process by which the opposition Socialist Party will pick a contender to face Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential elections in France.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, also known as DSK, was considered the favourite for the role until the events in New York, when he resigned from his role as managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
The leading candidate, Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry, appeared to distance herself from DSK in an interview with a French TV station.
"The DSK affair is about a man's behaviour and I have the right to think what I want of Dominique when it comes to women," she said.
When asked whether he does not behave respectfully, she replied: "Hang on, I have nothing to say about personal behaviour. It has nothing to do with politics."
Socialist stalwart and former culture minister Jack Lang was much more supportive.
"Surely at one time or another, the irreplaceable and international skills of Dominique, his experience as national economy minister, his intellectual qualities, will be useful?" he remarked.
"There are not so many talented personalities in European politics today so we can not go too long without his contribution. But when? How? I do not know and I can not say."
Sky News canvassed opinion among voters around the Seine.
Eric, a bookseller, said a return to front line politics would be unlikely.
He said: "I do not think anything at all because he is going to return as a private person, not as a public figure, because he has been disqualified.
"He does not have any credibility at all - even with people from the Left."
At a brasserie opposite Notre Dame, Walid the waiter was more forgiving.
Mr Strauss-Kahn's wife Anne Sinclair has been pictured by his side in New York
He said: "He (DSK) is someone who had good policies, he was doing good things. But do we judge people by what they have done not, by who they are or what they want to do? I think that is a shame."
Although the criminal case against him in New York has now been dropped, Mr Strauss-Kahn still faces legal challenges.
The maid who accused him of sexual assault and attempted rape is suing him in a civil suit, while the French journalist Tristane Banon has filed a criminal complaint.
She has alleged DSK tried to rape her in 2003, and he has in turn threatened to sue her for defamation.
Mr Strauss-Kahn said he intends to "express himself at greater length".
He will undoubtedly face questions about his behaviour with women, and the events in that hotel room which led to such a precipitous fall.
No comments:
Post a Comment