AFP - IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was accused of sexual crime and remanded in custody in New York, faced increasing pressure Wednesday after the statements by the U.S. Treasury Secretary doubting his ability to lead the institution.
"It is obviously not able to run the IMF," said Timothy Geithner at a conference Tuesday night, while the head of British diplomacy William Hague said Wednesday he "will take a decision on his future ".
"I think that Dominique Strauss-Kahn will take a decision on his future, but it is obviously in a very, very difficult," saidHague on Irish radio RTE.
This question should be "resolved in the coming days," added Wednesday the chief of the majority party UMP in France, Jean-Francois Cope.
Japan, however, felt it was too early to discuss replacing the IMF's managing director. "On this point, I think it's premature to even consider" the issue of replacing Mr. Strauss-Kahn said the government spokesman, Yukio Edano.
"We are aware that there is much speculation around the status of director general. We do not comment on these speculations," he said Tuesday night a spokesman for the IMF, William Murray, who said that the Fund has not "had contact" with him since his arrest.
Mr.Strauss-Kahn was arrested Saturday in New York and is accused of attempted rape of a maid in a Manhattan hotel.
He was imprisoned at Rikers Island prison in New York, pending his next court appearance Friday before a judge in New York.
According to NBC, quoting an unidentified source, he was placed under surveillance as a precaution against suicide.
Asked by AFP about it, a spokesman for the Prison Service of New York said in a statement that "the health of a prisoner is confidential."
"The prison administration of the City of New York observes the same rules of safety and health for all detainees," the document said, without commenting on the psychological state of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, whose photos in handcuffs have been around the world.
An indictment (grand jury) from 16 to 23 jurors popular due to meet in secret and in the absence of a judge to hear evidence from the prosecution and decide on a formal indictment or not.
To date, Mr.Strauss-Kahn denies the charges against him, according to his lawyers, which also appeal the decision to detain him and deny him bail.
The IMF chief was taken Monday night in the huge prison Rikers Island, an island in the East River, where it benefits from a single cell, according to a spokesman for the Prison Service.
"It is not in contact with other prisoners," he told AFP spokesman.
Mr.Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested Saturday, was detained by the decision of Judge Melissa Jackson on Monday, which has refused to release him on bail of one million dollars, two days after his arrest at Kennedy Airport in New York.
The judge cited a flight risk.
The defense of the former French minister suggested in vain that he surrender his passport to justice and a commitment to reside in New York with her daughter.
The wife of Mr.Strauss-Kahn, the former journalist Anne Sinclair, arrived Monday in New York, according to one of the DSK lawyers, Benjamin Brafman.
The case has rocked the French political class to one year's presidential, where "DSK" was a favorite, as part of a possible socialist candidate.
DSK is covered by seven charges, including criminal sexual act, attempted rape and kidnapping, after accusations of a maid of 32 years, employee of the Sofitel New York. The criminal sexual act, which includes forced oral sex in American law, French law corresponds to a rape.The term of rape under U.S. law that covers only forced vaginal penetration.
Out of his silence, the alleged victim's lawyer, Jeff Shapiro, told CNN that his client lived a trauma "extraordinary".
"The world is upside down for her," said Mr. Shapiro. "Since it happened, she could not go home. She can not return to work and she has no idea what the future holds," he said.
The alleged victim "would not stop crying" after the fact, acted on his side Tuesday at a restaurant AFP posing as his brother.The man from Guinea who runs a small restaurant in Harlem, said his sister called him by phone Saturday afternoon while she was with doctors and policemen.
"She said it just happened something bad, '" he said.
The defense has organized around particular time use the boss of the IMF. Its lawyers provide such that it would not escape, but he calmly lunched with a person whose identity is not yet known, before heading to the airport where his flight to Paris was already booked.
They also said he forgot at the hotel one of its mobile phones and called for the Sofitel we make him wear that would not have done if he was a fugitive.
Another possible line of defense, according to the New York press, is the thesis of consensual sex. The New York Post and The New York Times quoted a source "close to the defense" claiming that "the report may have been made." "The forensic evidence, we believe, does not coincide with forced intercourse," he said Monday before the court Mr Brafman.
Additional DNA samples were made Sunday on Mr.Strauss-Kahn, to detect any traces of violence.
Should he be convicted, the IMF chief risk 15 to 74 years in prison for all counts on which it is subject.
