Franse OvJ wil sexaanklacht tegen DSK van tafel

A French public prosecutor recommended on Tuesday closing an investigation into alleged sex offences in which former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn risks trial on a charge of "aggravated pimping".

It is now up to judges investigating the case to decide whether or not to drop the prosecution, the last legal proceedings the former Socialist presidential hopeful faces over his sexual behavior.

Strauss-Kahn, 64, was placed under formal investigation in March 2012 in the so-called Carlton affair, named after a hotel in the northern city of Lille at the centre of police inquiries into sex parties attended by prostitutes and the then managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

A charge of gang rape was dropped after a prostitute withdrew her accusation but the probe continued on the grounds that Strauss-Kahn's involvement in sex parties attended by prostitutes could be construed as pimping - an argument defense lawyers said was invalid.