The French opposition Socialist party has welcomed the release from house arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, describing it as ‘a moment of intense relief’.
The former head of the International Monetary Fund was freed without bail by a New York court, but officials will retain his travel documents.
The 62-year-old had been under house arrest in Manhattan, since being charged with sexually assaulting a hotel maid almost seven weeks ago.
US media have reported that prosecutors now doubt the credibility of the 32-year-old woman who made the allegation.
Until his 14 May arrest, Strauss-Kahn had been a steward of the global economy and a leading contender in the 2012 French presidential elections. Jubilant supporters in the French Socialist party hoped he might rejoin the presidential race but some analysts saw him as too tarnished.
He was forced to resign as head of the International Monetary Fund on 19 May.
Enjoying his first taste of freedom since being pulled off a Paris-bound jetliner hours after the purported attack, Strauss-Kahn emerged from the townhouse where he had been under house arrest on Friday evening and was driven with his wife and another couple to Scalinatella, a pricey Italian restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Strauss-Kahn's lawyers want the charges dropped.
‘We are absolutely convinced that while today is a first giant step in the right direction, the next step will lead to a complete dismissal of the charges,’ his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said.
Evidence to be re-examined
The judge said prosecutors will re-examine the evidence after they revealed the housekeeper lied to a grand jury about her actions after the alleged attack and on tax and immigration documents.
The woman initially said that after Strauss-Kahn assaulted her, she had cowered in the hallway outside his room until he left and she felt safe to seek help. Now prosecutors say she admits she cleaned a nearby room and then returned to start cleaning Strauss-Kahn's suite before reporting the incident.
Investigators said that card-key data showed she had cleaned Strauss-Kahn's suite before cleaning another room, the New York Times reported.
As Justice Michael Obus released Strauss-Kahn, he told the court: ‘I understand that the circumstances of this case have changed substantially and I agree the risk that he would not be here has receded quite a bit.
‘There will be no rush to judgment. The people will continue to investigate and reexamine the matter as appropriate.'
The woman’s brother told Reuters in Guinea that she was the victim of a smear campaign.
Her lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, said after the hearing his client's story had never wavered and that Strauss-Kahn had bruised her badly and tore a ligament in her shoulder.
‘The claim that this was consensual is a lie,’ Mr Thompson told reporters. ‘She made some mistakes but that doesn't mean she is not a rape victim.’
The case has hinged on the accuser, a 32-year-old Guinean immigrant who cleaned the $3,000-a-night suite at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan where Strauss-Kahn was staying.
Prosecutors found issues with her asylum application, tax return and statements to the grand jury investigating the assault case, court documents showed.
The New York Times quoted law enforcement officials as saying prosecutors had found possible links between the accuser and people involved in drug dealing and money laundering.
Quoting a well-placed law enforcement official, the paper reported yesterday that in particular, prosecutors were alarmed by a phone call the woman made within 28 hours of the alleged assault to a jailed boyfriend in Arizona.
