Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Photo: Reuters
IMF head on suicide watch at NYC jail
Dominique Strauss-Kahn under constant supervision at Rikers Island jail as authorities fear he may harm himself
International Monetary Fund Chairman Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who has been remanded to New York City's Rikers Island jail, has been put on suicide watch Wednesday.
Strauss-Kahn was held without bail and sent to Rikers on Monday on charges that he tried to rape a maid in his penthouse suite at a hotel near Times Square.
Fall from Grace
News agencies
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's fight against assault, attempted rape charges takes blow as court finds grounds to remand him to Rikers
Rikers officials are reportedly taking unusual precautions to make sure that the IMF chief stays safe behind bars.
The 62-year-old banker and diplomat is under protective custody in the jail, and has an entire jail wing to himself, a medical device to make sure he doesn't stop breathing at night and guards checking him 24 hours a day to make sure he doesn't kill himself.
Meanwhile, the IMF has not been in touch with Strauss-Kahn since his arrest in New York, but believes it would be important to do so "in due course."
Two board sources said that the International Monetary Fund's board of directors was planning to contact Strauss-Kahn to discuss his future in the organization, while he awaits trail.
European and US officials are mounting pressure on Strauss-Kahn, to step down.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the IMF needs to name an interim chairman, as Strauss-Kahn "is obviously not in a position” to run the fund; while Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter told reporters in Brussels that the jailed chairman “risks damaging the IMF.”
AP and Reuters contributed to this report
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