Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has threatened to countersue the French writer who had earlier alleged that he had tried to rape her during an interview for her book in 2002.
After the New York hotel maid filed a case against Strauss-Kahn, writer Tristane Banon had announced that she was also filing a lawsuit against him for attempted rape.
Strauss-Kahn, however, has now responded by saying he would sue her for defamation.
Banon's lawyer said the legal proceedings would focus on the behaviour of Strauss-Kahn when she went to interview him in a Paris apartment in February 2002.
Banon, who was 22 at the time, later spoke about the alleged assault on French TV and described Strauss-Kahn, then a leading member of France''s Socialist party, as acting like a "rutting chimpanzee".
"I can no longer hear that I am a liar because I haven''t made a legal complaint. For eight years I have carried the weight of this incident alone, hearing rumours and lies about me," The Guardian quoted her, as saying.
She said she did not want to give evidence in support of the maid because she did not know anything about her case.
{{/usCountry}}She said she did not want to give evidence in support of the maid because she did not know anything about her case.
{{/usCountry}}“If she lied about certain things, that doesn''t necessarily mean she lied about the rape. For me it has become unbearable. And today, to see Strauss-Kahn no sooner free than eating in a luxury restaurant with friends makes me ill. I want only one thing. That he [Strauss-Kahn] returns to France with his presumption of innocence so we can go before the court," Banon added.
At the time of the alleged incident, Banon was reportedly stopped from taking legal action by her mother, Anne Mansouret, who is a local councillor for his Socialist party. Mansouret later admitted that she regretted her decision.