Strauss-Kahn freed without bail - Report

PARIS (AP): Forced out of his job as leader of the IMF to face sexual assault charges, Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s political allies are hoping he can still return to French politics as a major prospect in next year’s race for the presidency.

Strauss-Kahn’s world changed dramatically Friday when a New York judge freed him without bail from a particularly constraining, and financially onerous, house arrest after prosecutors stepped forward with a list of lies from the accuser, a housekeeper in a luxury Manhattan hotel.

With the woman’s credibility suddenly in doubt, Strauss-Kahn quickly regained his aura as a leader even though charges were neither dropped nor reduced or his passport returned.

His sudden change of fortunes jolted his struggling Socialist Party, regalvanizing allies who had hoped to put Strauss-Kahn forward as the party’s presidential candidate against unpopular conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy in elections next April and May.

Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry had stepped reluctantly forward to fill Strauss-Kahn’s shoes as potential candidate — to be decided in a party primary.

However, were he found innocent tomorrow, the New York case, and his past in France, could come back to haunt Strauss-Kahn.

Before his arrest, the 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn — known in France as DSK — led popularity polls looking ahead to the race. His solid stature, silver hair and intelligence matched the image many French had of their next president.

Suddenly on May 14, Strauss-Kahn’s star came crashing to earth as he was pulled from an Air France plane in New York that was to take him to meetings with European leaders. To the shock of France, he was booked and walked the following day from a Harlem police station before a bevy of international photographers — handcuffed, rumpled and bleary-eyed.

Just as abruptly, hope is being restored to Socialist allies and friends who have always

insisted he was incapable of violent assault and could still be the party’s savior.

Strauss-Kahn and wife Anne Sinclair looked every bit the power couple in court Friday

the wife sporting a jaunty white jacket and the husband a light blue tie.

“This is a great step forward and a hope that is opening up,” Michele Sabban, a Socialist who has been among the most vocal backers of Strauss-Kahn, said on BFM TV.

She asked for a “pause of decency” in the Socialist Party primary process to choose a candidate, just in case Strauss-Kahn’s case flies forward and he is suddenly found innocent.

And, in a sign of just how deeply the latest development in New York is affecting politics in France, Strauss-Kahn’s main Socialist rival, Francois Hollande, said he would be willing to put the brakes on the process. Socialist Party leader hopefuls are to declare themselves by July 13, with voting for an official candidate in October.

“I’m completely prepared for the date to be postponed till the end of August so that there be no reserves, no restrictions,” Hollande said on France-Info radio.

There has been no comment from Sarkozy, who has remained silent throughout the ordeal, widely regarded as an astute political strategy.

In fact, the fate of Strauss-Kahn is as murky as ever. His next court appearance is set for July 18.

Were he ultimately found innocent, he will likely emerge a different man.

“His image has changed ... The French didn’t really know him,” said Bruno Cautres, a political analyst with Cevipof, the think tank linked to France’s prestigious university Science Po.

While Strauss-Kahn once served as finance minister, his popularity was based largely on his international image, Cautres said. With his arrest, information about his past has surfaced, including his reputation as a skirt-chaser.

“It’s (joined) with his rapport with money. We know he is very, very rich,” Cautres said. “The image has been tarnished” and “It would be very, very difficult, almost impossible, for him” to regain the stature he once held, Cautres said by telephone.

Strauss-Kahn owes his great wealth to his wife, once France’s top political talk show host. She was able to post a total of $6 million in cash bail and bond for her husband — bail free as of Friday.

However, back in France another case could be awaiting. A young writer, Tristane Banon, who claimed she was attacked by Strauss-Kahn during a 2002 interview in a Paris apartment, has said through her lawyer that she would not become part of the New York proceedings but could air her own case later on French soil.