Air France plane carrying ex-IMF chief lands in Paris

PARIS – An Air France plane from New York carrying former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn landed at Paris’ Roissy airport early Sunday, airport sources said.

Strauss-Kahn boarded the flight at John F.Kennedy International airport on Saturday evening, less than two weeks after sensational sexual assault charges against him were dropped in New York.

Large numbers of police and journalists were waiting at the terminal building for the plane when it landed at 7.05 am (0505 GMT) Sunday.

In New York, the fallen French politician and his wife Anne Sinclair also made their way through a crowd of journalists before they were helped through a security checkpoint.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, resigned as the International Monetary Fund’s managing director in May after he was arrested at Kennedy airport and charged with the sexual assault and attempted rape of a hotel maid in New York.

Last week, he walked free when a judge dismissed charges against him. Prosecutors said they could not pursue the case because the accuser’s lies had made it impossible to prove her accusations beyond a reasonable doubt.

The respected French economist and former finance minister had been expected to be President Nicolas Sarkozy’s main challenger in 2012 elections before the scandal broke in May, but the saga has left his political career in tatters.