IMF chief resigns

NEW YORK

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

The New York Times reported just minutes ago that IMF chiefDominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund in the wake of the recent explosive allegations that he sexually attacked a maid in a midtown Manhattan hotel room.

The news organization's website also quotes the former French finance minister denying all the allegations.

Meanwhile, investigators cut out a piece of carpet in a painstaking search of a penthouse suite for DNA evidence in the case, law enforcement officials said Wednesday as Strauss-Kahn made a new bid to get out of jail.

New York detectives and prosecutors believe the carpet in the hotel room may contain Strauss-Kahn's semen, spat out after an episode of forced oral sex by the hotel maid, the officials told The Associated Press.