The hotel maid who accuses ex-IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape may file a civil suit if prosecutors do not press criminal charges, her lawyer says.

It was their first meeting since the Manhattan district attorney's office said it had doubts about her credibility because of false statements on her asylum application and a taped recording of a telephone conversation between Ms Diallo and a friend in an Arizona jail.

Mr Thompson said a translated transcript revealed that the conversation, the day after the alleged attempted rape, focused on what had happened to Ms Diallo, and not on Mr Strauss-Kahn's wealth.

Ms Diallo was reported to have discussed with the man how to obtain money from the French politician.

Mr Thompson was speaking after Ms Diallo made a emotional public appeal for people to believe her allegations.

"A lot of things people say about me are not true," she continued.

Her daughter, she said, had told her: "You have to remember this guy is a powerful man – everybody knows that. But for you, only the people who work with you, your neighbours, the people back home, know you.

"But those people say good things about you because they know you. Please mum, stop crying, be strong for me."

She said she had promised her daughter she would be strong "for you and every other woman in the world".

"What happened to me I don't want to happen to any other woman," she said.

Originally Published On: www.bbc.co.uk – Original Article Here