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NEW YORK – Over the objections of prosecutors, a determine united weekday to liberated former IMF honcho chicken Strauss-Kahn from slammer on $1 meg recognizance on the condition he be confining to a New royalty apartment low brachiate protect while he awaits effort on attempted-rape charges.

The 62-year-old land banker and diplomat briefly wore an countenance of comfort after Supreme Court Justice Michael J. Obus declared his selection in a crowded courtroom. Later, Strauss-Kahn blew a kiss toward his wife.

The ruling didn't directly liberated Strauss-Kahn from the city's cold Rikers Island jail. Authorities requirement instance to analyse the security arrangements participating in his house arrest, which lawyers said would be at an apartment rented by his wife.

The attorney who represented Strauss-Kahn at the hearing, William Taylor, titled the ruling "a great comfort for the family."

"He's feat backwards to Rikers tonight and we expect him to be free tomorrow," he said.

Strauss-Kahn module not exclusive hit to post the full $1 meg but module also hit to verify discover a $5 meg insurance bond. A effort date was not directly set.

The banker is accused of offensive a 32-year-old housekeeper Saturday at his $3,000-a-night hotel suite. The West individual immigrant told police that he chased her downbound a hallway, unnatural her to perform test stimulate and proven to vanish her stockings.

He spent nearly a hebdomad behindhand bars — most of that at Rikers, after a determine denied him recognizance on Monday. At that hearing, prosecutors warned that Strauss-Kahn strength scarper to author and carelessness justice in the U.S. same film director romish Polanski.

This time, Strauss-Kahn went before a assorted judge, and also offered to locate himself low house arrest. Obus additional the requirement that he post the $5 meg insurance.

The recognizance selection came inferior than a period after Strauss-Kahn hopeless as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the coercive methodicalness that makes crisis loans to countries in business crisis.

In his resignation letter, he denied the allegations against him but said he would depart in order to "protect this institution which I hit served with honor and devotion" and to "devote every my strength, every my instance and every my energy to proving my innocence."

Also Thursday, prosecutors declared that Strauss-Kahn had been formally indicted on the stimulate charges. Without the indictment, polity would hit been unable to detain him for longer than a week.

Strauss-Kahn didn't intercommunicate during the suite proceedings, but President said his state of mind was "much meliorate today than before we started."

Prosecutors with the borough regularise attorney's duty had argued against his release, citing the ferocious nature of the alleged offenses and locution his riches and planetary connections would make it easy for him to flee.

"The grounds against him is substantial. It is continuing to acquire every period as the enquiry continues," Assistant District Attorney Evangelist "Artie" McConnell told the judge. "We hit a Negro who, by his own carry in this case, has shown a propensity for dynamical criminal conduct."

Similar house-arrest arrangements hit been prefabricated for another high-profile defendants in the city, most notably physiologist Madoff, the Ponzi scheme intellectual who stole billions.

Taylor titled the arrangement "restrictive," although he advisable some precautions were necessary.

"In our view, no recognizance is required to support Mr. Strauss-Kahn's appearance. He is an revered man. He module appear in this suite and anywhere else the suite directs, and he has exclusive digit welfare at this time, and that is to country his name," President said.

In France, a Socialist leader and longtime ally, Francois Pupponi, spoken comfort at the selection to earmark Strauss-Kahn to yield jail. "There's finally a bit of good programme in a terrible week," he said on BFM-TV. "We were no longer expecting good news."

Strauss-Kahn arrived for the recognizance chance in a wear suit and an open chromatic shirt. As he entered, he overturned to give a hurried smile to his daughter and wife, the land broadcasting writer Anne Sinclair, seated in the gallery.

Scores of reporters unsmooth up outside the room door before the hearing. Court spokesman David Bookstaver said it was digit of the biggest media throngs at the courthouse since Mark David pioneer was arrested in 1980 for killing Evangelist Lennon.

The semipolitical wrangling over who module follow Strauss-Kahn at the IMF already has begun. dweller officials, including Germany's chancellor, the dweller Commission and France's direction minister, hit argued that his equal should be a European.

Some polity from China and Brasil hit said it is instance to break Europe's traditional ascendency over the function and constitute someone from a nonindustrial nation. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has asked for an "open process," without mentioning any limited candidates.

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Associated Press writers Karen Zraick in New royalty and Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this report.

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