IMF leader arrested after alleged sex attack on NY hotel maid

French politician is taken off jetliner at Kennedy airport just before flight to Paris

NEW YORK — The leader of the International Monetary Fund was pulled from an airplane moments before he was to fly to Paris and was being questioned Saturday in connection with the violent sexual assault of a hotel maid, police said.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a possible French presidential candidate in 2012, was taken from the first-class section of an Air France flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport by Port Authority officers and turned over to Manhattan detectives, The New York Times reported.

Strauss-Kahn was "being questioned in connection with the sexual assault of a hotel chambermaid earlier this afternoon," Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne told the Times Saturday evening. "He is being arrested for a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment."

NBC station WNBC reported that Strauss-Kahn would spend the night in a jail cell at the Manhattan special-victims unit in East Harlem and would be arraigned Sunday.

His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, told Reuters that Strauss-Kahn "will plead not guilty."

According to an account the woman provided to police, Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from the bathroom of the $3,000-a-night suite, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her. She said she fought him off, then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. The woman was able to break free again and escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened, authorities said. They called police.

When New York City police detectives arrived moments later, Strauss-Kahn had already left the Sofitel hotel. Browne said Strauss-Kahn left his cellphone and other personal items in his room.

"It looked like he got out of there in a hurry," Browne said.

Strauss-Kahn was detained at 4:40 p.m. EDT by two Port Authority detectives who suddenly boarded Air France Flight 23, as the plane idled on the tarmac, John P. L. Kelly, an agency spokesman, told the Times.

"It was 10 minutes before its scheduled departure," Kelly said. "They were just about to close the doors."

Kelly said Strauss-Kahn was traveling alone and was not handcuffed.

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The victim was taken to Roosevelt Hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries, police said.

William Murray, a spokesman for the IMF in Washington, said the IMF had no immediate comment on the reports of Strauss-Kahn's arrest. Strauss-Kahn is the leader of France's Socialist party, and party spokespeople could not be reached for comment.

Strauss-Kahn is a married father of four. His third wife, Anne Sinclair, is a well-known American-born French TV journalist.

He had been viewed as a leading contender to run on the Socialist Party's ticket to challenge the re-election of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Strauss-Kahn, dubbed DSK in France, has not declared his candidacy, staying vague in interviews while feeding speculation that he wants France's top job

He was scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Sunday.

Strauss-Kahn took over as IMF chief in November 2007. Before that he was a member of the French National Assembly and had served as France's minister of economy, finance and industry from June 1997 to November 1999.

Three years ago, Strauss-Kahn was accused of having a fling with a former underling at the Davos international forum, the New York Daily News said. In October 2008, he issued an apology to the IMF staff.

"While this incident constituted an error in judgment on my part, for which I take full responsibility, I firmly believe that I have not abused my position," Strauss-Kahn wrote in an email to IMF staff.

The IMF board found his actions "regrettable" and said they "reflected a serious error of judgment." The board found that the relationship was consensual.

The economist, Piroska Nagy, left the fund as part of a buyout of nearly 600 employees instituted by Strauss-Kahn to cut costs, the Times reported. She took a job with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The Associated Press said.

On Friday, French President Nicholas Sarkozy was accused of organizing a smear campaign against Strauss-Kahn by focusing on his rival's lavish lifestyle, including buying suits from the same tailor who outfits U.S. President Barack Obama, the Post said.

A former economics professor, Strauss-Kahn joined the Socialist Party in 1976 and was elected to parliament in 1986 from the Val-d'Oise district, north of Paris. He went on to become mayor of Sarcelles, a working-class immigrant suburb of Paris.

His first government post was industry minister under former President Francois Mitterrand. As finance minister, he reduced France's debt repayments through a raft of privatizations including the sale of shares in France Telecom SA and Air France.

He is credited with preparing France for the adoption of the euro by taming its deficit and persuading then-Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to sign on to an EU pact of fiscal prudence.

More recently, he directed the IMF's participation in bailout efforts to keep a European debt crisis that began in Greece from destabilizing the global economy.

This article includes reporting from WNBC in New York, msnbc.com, The Associated Press and Reuters.