MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ex IMF chief is given back passport and can travel a free man

Strauss-Kahn and wife Anne Sinclair go for a walk in their Tribeca neighborhood in New York City (Photo by BIG)

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was given back his passport on Thursday, his legal team said, clearing the way for the former IMF head to travel abroad for the first time since his arrest three months ago on sex crime charges.

Strauss-Kahn has been a free man since Tuesday when a New York judge agreed to a request by prosecutors to drop all charges against him.

“I can confirm that the New York Police Department and the Office of the District Attorney returned Mr Strauss-Kahn's passport,” Shawn Naunton, from the French politician's legal team, said after a brief visit to his Manhattan home.

The District Attorney's office said it could no longer pursue the case because while Mr Strauss-Kahn did engage in sex with a Manhattan hotel maid, her repeated lying to investigators made it impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt her allegations of sexual assault.

“As you all know, Mr Strauss-Kahn's freedom was restored on Tuesday and the criminal charges were dismissed. It's gratifying to return his passport to him today,” Naunton said.

Mr Strauss-Kahn is believed to be preparing to return to France, where until his arrest he was seen as a leading prospect to become president in elections next year.

Despite the dismissal of charges, the affair remains a dark cloud over his reputation.

A spokesman at the IMF, where Mr Strauss-Kahn had to give up the leadership in the wake of his arrest, said that a visit was expected “as early as next week.”

“Like any former managing director of the IMF, Mr Strauss-Kahn would be welcome to visit the Fund. I understand that he intends to make a personal visit to headquarters,” IMF spokesman David Hawley told a press briefing.

“It's a personal visit ... I expect he would meet with the staff. I don't have any further details on the visit, which is not yet fully fleshed out,” he said.