Strauss-Kahn accuser to file civil suit 'soon'

A lawyer for the hotel maid who accused former International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in a New York hotel told reporters at a press conference on Thursday he planned to file a civil lawsuit, but did not specify exactly when it would be filed. "I said soon. Soon is soon," said Kenneth Thompson, the lawyer for the maid, Nafissatou Diallo.

Diallo made an emotional public appeal at the press conference for people to believe her story. The criminal case has teetered for weeks since prosecutors disclosed they had uncovered several discrepancies in Diallo's account of her past. (Reuters)