Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that his sexual encounter with a New York City hotel chambermaid was an error and a moral failure he would regret his whole life,but not a criminal act. In his first interview since his May 14 arrest on charges of attempted rape,Strauss-Kahn sounded bitter,saying that he had wanted to run for the French presidency and missed his appointment with the French people because of his own actions. He accused the maid,Nafissatou Diallo,of lying,and accused a Paris novelist,Tristane Banon,too of lying about an attempted rape attempt in 2003. He called Banons allegations imaginary and slanderous, although according to reports in LExpress of his testimony to police,he did admit to having made a pass at her and trying to kiss her. But he insisted late Sunday he did not,as she claimed,throw her to the ground,try to undress her and put his hand in her underwear. Strauss-Kahn was speaking live to his wifes close friend,the anchor Claire Chazal on TF1,the most popular French channel. Strauss-Kahn,62,did not describe what happened with Diallo,except to insist that the encounter did not involve violence. But he appeared to have been shaken by what happened afterward,saying that he was afraid,very afraid in the days after his arrest,in which the New York police hauled him off an airplane minutes before it was to take off for Paris on May 14. When you are caught in the jaws of this machine,you have the impression that it can crush you. I was humiliated before I could even say a word in my defence. In the end,the New York prosecutors decided not to bring a case against him,saying Diallo lacked credibility. Strauss-Kahn said he might have been the victim of a plot to take advantage of his moral failings. He said he had not ruled out that the sexual act with Diallo and what followed could be a trap, he said. He suggested Diallo was after money. STEVEN ERLANGER & MAÏA DE LA BAUME
