Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being questioned by French police as a suspect in a prostitution ring inquiry, a prosecutor says.
Strauss-Kahn, once a front-runner for the French presidency, is being held in custody at a police station in Lille, northern France.
Police have questioned a number of prostitutes who have admitted having sex with Strauss-Kahn.
He insists he did not know that the women were prostitutes.
“I challenge you to distinguish a naked prostitute from any other naked woman,” his lawyer Henri Leclerc has told French television.
Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in May 2011 after he was charged in New York with the attempted rape of a hotel maid. The case was later dropped.
He could be held by police for up to 48 hours, French media say. (BBC)
