Back home: Strauss-Kahn arrives in French capital (AP)

PARIS – Dominique Strauss-Kahn returned home to a mixed welcome in France on Sunday, for the first time since attempted rape accusations by a New York hotel maid unleashed an international scandal that dashed his chances for the French presidency.

New York prosecutors later dropped their case against Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund, because of questions about the maid's credibility.

But the affair cost Strauss-Kahn his job at the helm of the IMF and exposed his personal life to worldwide scrutiny that has stained his image and left the French divided over what he should do next. His high-profile return home Sunday reflects how large he looms here.

Smiling and waving silently, he stepped off an Air France flight Sunday at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport a different man from the one who, just four months ago, had been the pollsters' favorite to beat President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential elections.

Few expect Strauss-Kahn to return to French politics soon, but his supporters have been eagerly awaiting his return after three months of legal drama in the U.S. that they saw as unfairly hostile to him.

"I'm moved, I always believed in his innocence. I wanted very much for this to be over," Michele Sabban, a fellow Socialist Party member, said on i-Tele television.

Residents of Sarcelles, a working class Paris suburb where Strauss-Kahn is mayor, were largely enthusiastic and empathetic about his return.

"I'm happy for him. It's the end of an ordeal. Now ... we should leave him alone a little bit," resident Laurent Giaoui told The Associated Press.

A prominent member of Sarkozy's conservative UMP party, Xavier Bertrand, shrugged off Strauss-Kahn's appearance in Paris. "Like many French people, I have lots of others worries in my head," he said on Europe-1 radio. "I have a hard time imagining" Strauss-Kahn back in politics, he said.

Strauss-Kahn flew in to Paris from New York's JFK Airport early Sunday and gave a brief wave upon leaving the arrivals hall. Pushing a luggage cart, he did not speak to the large crowd.

His wife, respected former TV personality Anne Sinclair, was at his side, beaming widely. Riot police protected him and the area. The two then drove to one of their homes, on Paris' tony Place des Vosges. The crush of reporters was so thick that Strauss-Kahn had trouble reaching and opening his front door.

The last time he tried to take an Air France flight out of JFK, Strauss-Kahn was pulled out of first class minutes before takeoff by police. They were investigating the maid's claim that hours earlier, Strauss-Kahn had forced her to perform oral sex and tried to rape her.

He quit his job, spent almost a week in jail, then six weeks of house arrest and nearly two more months barred from leaving the country before Manhattan prosecutors dropped the case last month, saying they no longer trusted the maid, Guinean immigrant Nafissatou Diallo.

Diallo is continuing to press her claims in a lawsuit. Strauss-Kahn denies the allegations.

Strauss-Kahn faces another investigation in France based on accusations by French novelist Tristane Banon, who says he tried to rape her during an interview in 2003. He calls the claim "imaginary."

Banon's mother, Anne Mansouret, told the AP that Strauss-Kahn's return "is a good thing for my daughter's complaint because he will have to answer to police."

Banon says she didn't file a complaint after the incident because her mother, a regional Socialist official, urged her not to.

Mansouret, who now says she regrets that decision, called it "profoundly indecent" that Strauss-Kahn's homecoming Sunday was like that of a "star."

The AP does not name people who report being sexually assaulted unless they agree to be identified or come forward publicly, as Diallo and Banon have done.

Strauss-Kahn, known in France by his initials DSK, is also dubbed a "great seducer" by French commentators for his reputation for sexual adventures.

That reputation — and France's overall attitude toward keeping politicians' private lives private — came under scrutiny after Strauss-Kahn's arrest. Many called for more openness about questionable private behavior that might reflect on a politician's public life.

The Socialist Party is now in a fierce campaign for primaries next month to choose its candidate for April and May presidential elections. The front-runners, while relieved that the New York case was dropped, do not appear keen for Strauss-Kahn to make a comeback.

Strauss-Kahn, an eloquent economist and former finance minister, still has many fans in France, and there remains a small chance he could play a role in the presidential campaign. Strauss-Kahn himself has remained silent about his political plans.

In welcoming Strauss-Kahn back Sunday, many French people expressed concern for his wife — who was more famous in France than her husband before they married 20 years ago — and what she's been through in recent months.

One supporter belted out an ode to Strauss-Kahn in a performance at the Paris airport Sunday morning, accompanied by a Verdi opera played on a portable stereo, before police officers asked him to stop.

"Dominique! Dominique!," shouted Gregoire Vandevelde, who said he was a former student of Strauss-Kahn's at a prestigious economic institute. "He is extremely brilliant, full of humor and very competent, warm with his students," Vandevelde said.

___

Angela Charlton in Paris, Catherine Gaschka in Sarcelles, and Ted Shaffrey and Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Wall Street drops on French bank worry day after rally (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, wiping out most of the previous session's gains, on fears of tumult in the French banking sector, which has significant exposure to shaky European debt.

U.S. financial stocks led the decline on worries that any French bank problems could spread to them. The KBW bank index slid 6 percent. Large financial institutions' shares sank, including Bank of America Corp, down 7.2 percent at $7.05.

French banks' shares tumbled in Paris trading even after a Societe Generale spokeswoman denied rumors of trouble. Societe General, where U.S. traders have focused their attention, fell 14.7 percent and BNP Paribas dropped 9.5 percent.

"You've already had situations in Greece, Spain has been in there, Portugal, and now if you are talking about France, which because it's a bigger economy, it probably generates more concern on a comparison basis," said Gordon Charlop, managing director of Rosenblatt Securities in New York.

"So there are investors who are a little bit more cautious about European financials and that translates into financials here."

Stocks rallied on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve promised to keep interest rates near zero for at least two more years. The S&P 500 index had its best performance in more than two years.

"Investors are kind of pondering Bernanke's message and are probably looking for something more than they got. They might be selling into the meeting that he is having at Jackson Hole -- that could be part of it, too," Charlop said.

The Fed chairman is due to give his yearly speech at the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, meeting at the end of August.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 363.17 points, or 3.23 percent, to 10,876.60. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 36.12 points, or 3.08 percent, to 1,136.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 70.01 points, or 2.82 percent, to 2,412.51.

The CBOE Volatility Index shot up 19.1 percent. Earlier, the VIX had climbed slightly more than 20 percent, representing the third session in the last five that the index has jumped at least 20 percent.

Walt Disney Co was among the Dow's worst performers, tumbling 9.6 percent to $31.38 a day after the company's quarterly results failed to reassure investors that the entertainment company could do well in a weak U.S. economy.

Even after Tuesday's snap-back rally, the S&P 500 is down nearly 17 percent since its 2011 closing high set on April 29. Worries about the U.S. economy and high levels of public debt in Europe have sent stocks cascading down sharply over the last two weeks.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Additional reporting by Ashley Lau; Editing by Jan Paschal)

View the original article here

Assad loyalists storm U.S. and French embassies in Syria (Reuters)

AMMAN (Reuters) – Protesters loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad briefly broke into the U.S. embassy in Damascus on Monday and security guards used live ammunition to prevent them storming the French embassy, diplomats said.

No casualties were reported in the attacks but a U.S. official said Washington condemned Syria's slow response and its failure to the prevent the assault on its embassy.

The attacks followed a visit by the U.S. and French ambassadors to the city of Hama last week in support of the hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators who have been gathering there despite attacks by Syrian forces.

"We are calling in the Syrian charge (d'affaires) to complain," said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We feel they failed (in their responsibility to protect U.S. diplomats). We are going to condemn their slow response."

Human rights groups say at least 1,400 civilians have been killed since an uprising began in March against Assad's autocratic rule, posing the biggest threat to his leadership since he succeeded his father 11 years ago.

In other violence on Monday, Syrian forces killed one civilian and wounded 20 in heavy-machinegun fire on Homs, Syria's third city, and went house-to-house arresting suspected opponents in Hama, human rights activists said.

Despite using force to crush the protests, Assad has also called for talks on reforms. But many opposition figures have refused to attend a two-day conference in the capital, saying it was futile as long as violence continued.

"Dialogue can only work when both parties respect each other and look at each other as equals," said Ayman Abdel-nour, the Gulf-based editor of all4syria.com website. "At the moment, there is no dialogue."

Vice President Farouq al-Shara told the opening ceremony of the Damascus conference on Sunday that the authorities would open a new page, hinting at allowing political parties, other than the ruling Baath Party, to operate.

The meeting was expected to discuss legislation which would allow a multi-party system and constitutional amendments.

But independent analysts said reform would remain on paper as long as the security apparatus and Assad loyalists continue to operate with impunity against demonstrators.

Hilal Khashan, a Lebanon-based political commentator, said Assad's call for dialogue was not serious and aimed at buying time.

"If the regime was serious about reforms, they would change their security measures. Nobody in their sound mind would expect anything from Damascus as genuine political reform. The regime is buying time," he added.

(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes in Beirut and by Paris and Washington bureau; editing by Timothy Heritage and Jon Boyle)

View the original article here

French split on return to politics for DSK (AP)

PARIS – A new poll indicates that French people are divided over whether Dominique Strauss-Kahn should re-enter French politics after the weakening of the sexual assault case against the former International Monetary Fund chief.

Forty-nine percent of those surveyed in the Harris Interactive poll for French newspaper Le Parisien responded 'yes' to the question "Without prejudging his innocence or guilt, do you want DSK to come back to the French political scene one day?"

Forty-five percent said 'no' and six percent didn't answer the question, according to the poll published Sunday in Le Parisien. The agency asked a demographically representative group of 1,000 people 18 years old and older to fill out the July 1-2 online survey. No margin of error was provided.

Left-leaning voters were more favorable to a return to politics by Strauss-Kahn, the man who was once the Socialst party's main contender to face off against President Nicolas Sarkozy in next April's presidential election.

Sixty percent of left-leaning voters said the would want DSK back in French politics someday, according to the poll, and 38 percent said no.

On the more pressing question of whether the Socialists should suspend the presidential primary calendar because of the new developments, respondents were also evenly split. Forty-nine percent of all French and 47 percent of left-leaning voters said 'no.'

Strauss-Kahn's next court date is July 18, while the Socialist party has set a July 13 deadline for candidates to declare whether they will run in the primary, now scheduled for Oct. 9 and Oct. 16.

A close ally of Strauss-Kahn's said former IMF chief "will be an important actor in the campaign if he wants to, whose voice will be listened to."

In an interview in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper Sunday, Socialist party legislator Pierre Moscovici said he has not spoken with Strauss-Kahn since before he was freed from house arrest in New York on Friday. He said it is "premature" to speculate on what role Strauss-Kahn could yet play in French politics.

"When he regains his freedomand he is cleared, all options are open to him," Moscovici said.

View the original article here

Man grabs French leader Sarkozy, is detained (AP)

PARIS – A man in a crowd grabbed French President Nicolas Sarkozy by the shoulder Thursday and nearly knocked him to the ground before being tackled by security officers and detained.

The unusually aggressive incident occurred as the president shook hands with a crowd in the town of Brax in southwest France.

The man was not armed, according to the national police service. An official with the service said the 32-year-old Frenchman lives in the Lot-et-Garonne region and works in the theater business. The official was not authorized to be publicly named due to police policy.

The man was detained and being questioned in the nearby town of Agen.

Images broadcast on French television showed Sarkozy reaching over a metal barricade to greet onlookers when an arm grabs his suit roughly by the shoulder and pulls it toward the crowd.

Sarkozy started to lose his balance and fall, then immediately recoiled and righted himself. Security officers pulled the assailant to the ground.

Sarkozy's office would not immediately comment on the incident.

Sarkozy is an outspoken and divisive figure whose poll ratings have been quite low for months. He is expected to run for re-election next year, and his presidential visits to the French provinces in recent weeks have the air of campaign stops.

He occasionally gets heckled by critics, though only verbally. In one 2008 incident, a man was caught on video telling Sarkozy not to touch him as the president walked through a crowd. The man accused Sarkozy of "dirtying me," and Sarkozy snapped back with an insult that mildly translated as "get out of here, you total jerk."

Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was the object of an assassination attempt in 2002, during a military parade for the Bastille Day national holiday. A far-right activist, Maxime Brunerie, was convicted of attempted murder after he pulled a rifle from a guitar case and shot at Chirac. Chirac was unhurt.

View the original article here

French military confirms arms drops to Libyan rebels (AFP)

PARIS (AFP) – The French military confirmed on Wednesday that earlier this month it had air dropped arms shipments to Libyan rebels fighting Moamer Kadhafi's forces in the highlands south of Tripoli.

The NATO military operation in Libya was launched under a UN Security Council resolution authorising world powers to take action to "protect civilians" and this was the first time France has admitted arming rebels.

The news came as a surprise even to France's closest allies, and Britain -- which has joined Paris in spearheading the air campaign against Kadhafi -- distanced itself from the move and said it would not follow suit.

The Le Figaro newspaper and a well-placed non-government source said that France had dropped several tonnes of arms including Milan anti-tank rockets and light armoured vehicles to the revolt.

But Colonel Thierry Burkhard, spokesman for the French general staff, told AFP that the shipments were essentially of "light arms" such as assault rifles to help civilian communities protect themselves from regime troops.

Mahmud Shamman, a spokesman for the rebel National Transitional Council, the revolutionary high command, visiting Paris, told reporters he could not comment on the reported arms shipments.

The British foreign ministry was also cautious, telling reporters: "Our position is clear: there is an arms embargo on Libya.

"But at the same time UN Security Council Resolution 1973 allows all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack," it said in a statement.

"We do think the United Nations resolutions allow, in certain limited circumstances, defensive weapons to be provided but the UK is not engaged in that. Other countries will interpret the resolution in their own way."

In New York, a UN diplomat speaking on condition on anonymity, told AFP that while there is an arms embargo a "close reading of the resolution would suggest air drops of arms are not illegal if they are to protect civilians."

Burkhard said France had become aware in early June that rebel-held Berber villages in the Djebel Nafusa highland region south of the capital had come under pressure from the Libyan strongman's loyalist forces.

"We began by dropping humanitarian aid: food, water and medical supplies," he said. "During the operation, the situation for the civilians on the ground worsened. We dropped arms and means of self-defence, mainly ammunition."

Burkhard described the arms as "light infantry weapons of the rifle type" and said the drops were carried out over several days "so that civilians would not be massacred".

According to Le Figaro, which said it had seen a secret intelligence memo and talked to senior officials, the drops were designed to help rebel fighters encircle Tripoli and encourage a popular revolt in the city itself.

"If the rebels can get to the outskirts of Tripoli, the capital will take the chance to rise against Kadhafi," said an official quoted in the report.

"The regime's mercenaries are no longer getting paid and are scarcely getting fed. There's a severe fuel shortage, the population has had enough."

A well-placed non-government source told AFP that 40 tonnes of weapons including "light armoured cars" had been delivered to rebels in western Libya.

According to Le Figaro the French arms shipments were dropped from planes across the Djebel Nafusa region, where Berber tribes have risen to join the revolt against Kadhafi's rule and seized several provincial towns.

The crates hold assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, it said, and also European-made Milan anti-tank missiles, a powerful addition to the rebel arsenal that can destroy a tank or a bunker.

Qatar has also reportedly been involved in sending weapons to the rebels, and the Figaro report said that opposition fighters control two small desert air strips south of Djebel Nafusa where its planes have landed.

France has taken a leading role in organising international support for the uprising against Kadhafi's four-decade old rule, and French and British jets are spearheading a NATO-led air campaign targeting his forces.

Rebel forces are based in Benghazi in the east of the country, and hold a besieged enclave supplied by sea in the western coastal town of Misrata, but have been unable to mount a convincing advance on the capital.

View the original article here