Banon says she didn't file a complaint after the incident because her mother, a regional Socialist official, urged her not to.

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Mansouret, who now says she regrets that decision, called it "profoundly indecent" that Strauss-Kahn's homecoming Sunday was like that of a "star."

The AP does not name people who report being sexually assaulted unless they agree to be identified or come forward publicly, as Diallo and Banon have done.

Strauss-Kahn, known in France by his initials DSK, is also dubbed a "great seducer" by French commentators for his reputation for sexual adventures.

That reputation - and France's overall attitude toward keeping politicians' private lives private - came under scrutiny after Strauss-Kahn's arrest. Many called for more openness about questionable private behavior that might reflect on a politician's public life.

The Socialist Party is now in a fierce campaign for primaries next month to choose its candidate for April and May presidential elections. The front-runners, while relieved that the New York case was dropped, do not appear keen for Strauss-Kahn to make a comeback.

Strauss-Kahn, an eloquent economist and former finance minister, still has many fans in France, and there remains a small chance he could play a role in the presidential campaign. Strauss-Kahn himself has remained silent about his political plans.

In welcoming Strauss-Kahn back Sunday, many French people expressed concern for his wife - who was more famous in France than her husband before they married 20 years ago - and what she's been through in recent months.

One supporter belted out an ode to Strauss-Kahn in a performance at the Paris airport Sunday morning, accompanied by a Verdi opera played on a portable stereo, before police officers asked him to stop.

"Dominique! Dominique!," shouted Gregoire Vandevelde, who said he was a former student of Strauss-Kahn's at a prestigious economic institute. "He is extremely brilliant, full of humor and very competent, warm with his students," Vandevelde said.