John Lipsky appointed acting managing director of IMF

PanARMENIAN.Net - IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has consented to a medical examination over allegations of serious sexual assault.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested on May 15, denies attacking and attempting to rape a hotel maid. He had been due to appear in court but the hearing has been postponed until May to allow the forensic tests to be carried out.

The married former French finance minister is also considered a possible Socialist candidate for the presidency. He had been scheduled to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on May 15 in Berlin, BBC reported.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn - often referred to in France simply as DSK - had been detained at JFK airport on Saturday night as he prepared to fly to Europe. He is believed to have been in New York on personal business and does not have diplomatic immunity. The 62-year-old was kept overnight in a special unit for sexual harassment in New York's Harlem borough and on Sunday, charged with "criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment, and attempted rape".

Police say the 32-year-old woman who made the allegations has formally identified him in a line-up. Speaking outside court in Manhattan, lawyer William Taylor said Mr Strauss-Kahn had "willingly consented to a scientific and forensic examination", adding that he was "tired but fine".

Mr. Strauss-Kahn's wife, prominent French journalist Anne Sinclair, has also said she believes he is innocent. "I do not believe for one second the accusations brought against my husband," she said in a statement sent to the AFP news agency on May 15.

John Lipsky has been appointed acting managing director of the IMF in his absence. The fund's director of external relations, Caroline Atkinson, said the organisation remained "fully functioning and operational".