Rape charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn have been dropped.

In New York overnight, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus dismissed all charges against the former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), after serious doubt was thrown onto the credibility of the claims made by the alleged victim, Naffissatou Diallo, a hotel maid.

Diallo admitted to prosecutors that she had fabricated and embellished accounts of her past, including alleged sexual offences committed against her previously. It was also discovered that she had lied about her employment at the hotel, where the alleged encounter with Strauss-Kahn occurred, in order to gain access to subsidised housing.

Strauss-Kahn was escorted off a plane and arrested in May at John F Kennedy airport when attempting to leave the USA. He was subsequently charged with sexual assault and attempted rape, and stood down as the head of the IMF - a position he had held since November 2007. Strauss-Kahn, who had hoped to run as a socialist candidate against the conservative French President Nicolas Sarkozy, maintained his innocence throughout.

He was replaced as the head of the IMF by Christine Lagarde, the former French finance minister. Lagarde spent almost 25 years with Baker & McKenzie before entering politics in 2005, and was elected as the firm's first female global chair in 1999.

Diallo has also filed a civil suit against Strauss-Kahn.

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