Tristane Banon. (AFP/Getty Images)
PARIS — French prosecutors asked Dominique Strauss-Kahn to meet face-to-face with the writer who accused him of attempted rape, France Info radio reported Friday.
Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers said the former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief was “ready” for a face-to-face meeting with Tristane Banon, and “had let the service in charge of this case know that he was at its disposal,” the report said.
It did not say when the “confrontation” would take place. Strauss-Kahn left France for a vacation in Morocco on Thursday.
Banon, 32, was asked by prosecutors whether she would welcome a face-to-face meeting with the 62-year-old former presidential contender.
“The police asked me if I would accept the confrontation, I said of course I would,” Banon told RTL radio Thursday. “I want him to be in front of me and for him to look me in the eyes and tell me this is all in my imagination. I’d like to see him tell me that.”
Banon alleged that Strauss-Kahn lured her to a Paris flat in 2003 for an interview but then attacked her. Strauss-Kahn described her claims as imaginary, and brought a defamation suit against her.
Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York in May after hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo alleged he had assaulted her. New York prosecutors eventually dropped the charges after doubts emerged over her credibility.