IMF director resigns amid sex charges

Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned(辞职) as head of the(国际货币基金组织), the IMF said in a statement issued Wednesday as he faced charges of sexual assault(性侵犯) and attempted rape in New York.

"I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations(陈词) that have been made against me," Strauss-Kahn said in his letter of resignation, released by the IMF.

He said the resignation came with "infinite sadness" but was needed to protect the IMF, "which I have served with honor and devotion."

"I think at this time first of my wife — whom I love more than anything-of my children, of my family, of my friends.

"I think also of my colleagues at the Fund; together we have accomplished(完成) such great things over the last three years and more."

He said he would "devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence(无罪，清白)."

The IMF said John Lipsky would remain the institution's acting managing director and that its executive board(执行委员会) will soon reveal the process of replacing Strauss-Kahn.

The hotel maid accusing Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her "has not had a moment of peace" since their encounter(遭遇，偶遇) made international headlines, her lawyer said Wednesday.

The woman, a 32-year-old immigrant(移民) from the west African nation of Guinea(几内亚), was to testify(作证) before a grand jury(大陪审团) sometime Wednesday about the incident at a penthouse suite at a luxury hotel in midtown Manhattan, lawyer Jeffrey Shapiro said on NBC's TODAY.

"This is a woman who is a rape victim — the victim of a physical assault — who since this has taken place and since she has reported it to security at the hotel, has not had a moment of peace. She's not been able to return home. She's not been able to seek any help," said Shapiro, a New York City personal injury lawyer.

She has gone into hiding amid fears for her family's safety, he said.

The woman is a widow with a 15-year-old daughter. They moved to New York from Guinea about seven years ago, Shapiro said.

"She came from a part of the world where laws were few and far between(稀少，罕见) and that justice wasn't readily available, at least to people without means," Shapiro told TODAY. "When she found out that this encounter that she had had was with a man of great power and wealth, she fears not only for herself but maybe more importantly her daughter."

Prosecutors(公诉人) have accused Strauss-Kahn, 62, of attacking the maid Saturday afternoon when she entered his suite at the Sofitel Hotel, apparently unaware it was occupied, to clean it.