US 'confident' IMF can function amid scandal

IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn (C)
after his arrest on sexual assault charges
© AFP Jewel Samad

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The White House said Monday it was “confident” that the International Monetary Fund can function “effectively” as IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn battled attempted rape charges in New York.

“We remain confident in the institution of the IMF and its ability to continue to execute its mission effectively,” spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard President Barack Obama’s official Air Force One airplane.

Carney declined to address the accusations against Strauss-Kahn, saying the White House “won’t comment on a legal matter.”

Strauss-Kahn was expected to deny the alleged sexual assault of a hotel chambermaid in a New York courtroom Monday as his prospects of becoming French president were further damaged by a second sex assault accusation.

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman said his client would vigorously defend himself against claims that he trapped the maid in a luxury Manhattan hotel and sexually assaulted her.