‘DSK said couldnt control self in 2002 sex assault’

Member of socialist party speaks of assault on daughter,says party heads knew,but chose to ignore incident.

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Nine years ago,Anne Mansouret dissuaded her daughter from filing a legal complaint for attempted rape against Dominique Strauss-Kahn,a prominent member of the Socialist Party in France.

But now she is speaking out about what happened and what other Socialist leaders knew. And some Socialists deeply embarrassed by the allegations against the wealthy man have called for her expulsion from the party.

In a series of interviews,Mansouret said she did it to protect her daughter,Tristane Banon,now 31,and the party itself.

Banon,a journalist,asserts that Strauss-Kahn,who is facing criminal charges in New York of attempted rape of a hotel housekeeper,tried to rape her during an interview in an empty apartment in 2002 grabbing her arm,pulling off her bra,trying to unzip her jeans,fighting with her on the floor and ignoring her cries of no. She described him as a chimpanzee in rut.

Party leaders knew of her daughters experience with Strauss-Kahn,Mansouret said,but chose to ignore it. And she herself felt stymied,in part,because Strauss-Kahns second wife,Brigitte Guillemette,was one of her best friends and the godmother of Banon.

Many people knew the story,but didnt want to talk about it, Mansouret said. With Guillemettes intercession,Mansouret even had a drink with Strauss-Kahn after the incident,who admitted to her then that he couldnt control himself during the interview he arranged with her daughter in an empty apartment.

She described him as a man who never resisted any kind of temptation and who was never able to go on diet for more than 15 days.

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Since the arrest of Strauss-Kahn in New York,Mansouret has been caught in a highly politicised drama. She is widely seen as a betraying mother who silenced her daughter and who is now tarnishing the image of the party.

Michèle Sabban,vice-president of the regional council of Île-de-France,asked for her expulsion from the Socialist Party.

She has no spirit of responsibility, Sabban told the French radio station RMC. After the incident,François Hollande,then the leader of the Socialist Party,even called her daughter,Mansouret said. But there is no indication that he undertook any investigation. Hollande,now himself a leading presidential candidate,said he knew about rumours, but they were not as serious as those that have been reported, he told Le Figaro.

I knew the Socialists would deny it, Mansouret said. Between the truth,what you know as being true,and what people present as being true,there is a often a difference in politics.MAÏA de la BAUME