Strauss-Kahn Granted Bail

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was granted bail on Thursday but faced another night in a New York jail, hours after he quit as head of the IMF under the cloud of sex crime charges.

His resignation intensified a diplomatic race for global finance’s top job which has gone exclusively to Europe for the past 65 years but is now in the sights of fast-growing developing economies.

A judge granted Strauss-Kahn $1 million bail and ordered him to be detained in a New York apartment. He will be subject to electronic monitoring and under the watch of an armed guard, costing him $200,000 a month, a prosecutor said.

Prosecutors argued vehemently the French national should remain behind bars, calling him a flight risk.

“The investigation is in the early stages and the evidence against him is substantial and is continuing to grow every day,” said prosecutor John McConnell.

He said the hotel maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her on Saturday, a 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea, had told a “compelling and unwavering story.”