WASHINGTON - In a letter to IMF staff circulated Monday, former IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn strongly denied charges against him and called the events around his arrest on attempted rape "a personal nightmare."
In the letter distributed to the fund's staff in an email by IMF acting Managing Director John Lipsky, Strauss-Kahn apologized for the pain his case had caused the global lender and said he was confident he would eventually be exonerated.
Strauss-Kahn is facing charges he tried to rape a hotel maid at an upscale hotel in New York City on May 14. He is being held at a Manhattan safe house under around-the-clock armed guard after being freed on bail Friday.
The letter reflects on his arrival at the fund in 2007 and explains his reasoning behind his resignation Wednesday.
"I deny in the strongest possible terms the allegations which I now face; I am confident that the truth will come out and I will be exonerated," he said. A copy of the letter was obtained by Reuters.
"In the meantime, I cannot accept that the Fund -- and you dear colleagues -- should in any way have to share my own personal nightmare. So, I had to go."
He thanked staff for their hard work and the institution's response to the global financial crisis.
"I also don't want to leave without telling you -- as perhaps I did not do sufficiently before -- that I understand and deeply value all the other work that you did," he wrote.
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