Strauss-Kahn, one of the world's top international diplomats responsible for handling financial crises, was removed from an Air France plane and taken into custody several minutes before the flight was to take off for Paris from John F Kennedy International Airport.

Strauss-Kahn was on his way to Europe for a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on May 15.

A 32-year-old maid filed a sexual assault complaint after fleeing the US$3,000-a-night hotel suite at the Sofitel in Times Square where the alleged incident occurred.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, who has been considered a possible Socialist Party candidate in the French presidential election next April, left the hotel after the incident.

According to New York state law, a criminal sexual act includes forcibly compelling someone to engage in oral sex.

The IMF managing director has yet to say whether he will run for president, although French opinion polls put him as a clear winner over conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy if the two faced off in an election.