Socialist presidential contender Francois Hollande was questioned by police today in an inquiry into accusations by a French writer that former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her.
The Socialist politician, fearing a long wait would poison a campaign to secure backing as Socialist Party candidate in next year's presidential contest, had asked to be interviewed as soon as possible by police investigating the accusations by writer Tristane Banon.
Ms Banon's lawyer says she informed Mr Hollande shortly after the alleged Mr Strauss-Kahn incident in 2003, putting him on a list of people police want to help them in their inquiries and raising questions about whether he should have raised the alarm at the time.
A front page headline in right-leaning newspaper Le Figaro yesterday said Mr Hollande would be questioned in September, which raised the spectre of weeks of speculation on the nature of his involvement in the Strauss-Kahn affair.
"I'm relaxed, more than relaxed. But what I can't stand is being manipulated politically and I shall tell the investigators everything I know," said Mr Hollande, who added he had asked to be interviewed by police urgently.
The politician is currently leading in opinion polls against party rival Martine Aubry and police questioning in September would have come at a crucial time in the race for the party's presidential ticket.
The case against Mr Strauss-Kahn, once the Socialist Party's leading candidate for a 2012 presidential vote, has the potential to damage the party and poison the run-up to the October vote in which it selects a contender to fight the presidential election in nine months.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, who is fighting charges in New York he tried to rape a hotel maid, has responded to the accusations made against him in France by launching a defamation suit against 32-year-old Ms Ban.
Agencies