<p>Strauss-Kahn proclaimed his innocence in a brief letter to the IMF executive board late Wednesday night, saying: "To all, I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me."<br /><br />But he said he was stepping down to "protect this institution which I have served with honour and devotion, and especially -- especially -- I want to devote all my strength, all my time and all my energy to proving my innocence."<br /><br />In his letter, Strauss-Kahn said he felt compelled to resign as "I think at this time first of my wife -- whom I love more than anything -- of my children, of my family, of my friends."<br /><br />"I think also of my colleagues at the Fund; together we have accomplished such great things over the last three years and more," he wrote.<br /><br />Calls for Strauss-Kahn's resignation mounted in recent days with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying he was "obviously not in a position to run the IMF."<br /><br />The resignation came as his attorneys are preparing to appeal Thursday to New York's Supreme Court to release their client on bail.<br /><br />He has agreed to post $1 million in cash, to be confined to home detention in Manhattan with electronic monitoring and to turn over his UN travel document to "eliminate any concern that Mr. Strauss-Kahn would or could leave this court's jurisdiction," attorney Shawn P. Naunton wrote in the appeal.<br /><br />A tentative deal was in the works that could result in his release on bail as early as Thursday, CNN reported citing a source close to the defence.<br /><br />The appeal adds a number of conditions, including electronic monitoring, which were not in a bail request turned down Monday by a criminal court judge in Manhattan.<br /><br />The appeal to the state Supreme Court describes the accused as "a loving husband and father, and a highly regarded international diplomat, lawyer, politician, economist and professor, with no prior criminal record".<br /><br />It also said Strauss-Kahn has been married for more than a decade and has four children from a prior marriage, one of whom is a graduate student at Columbia University in New York.</p>
<p>Strauss-Kahn proclaimed his innocence in a brief letter to the IMF executive board late Wednesday night, saying: "To all, I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me."<br /><br />But he said he was stepping down to "protect this institution which I have served with honour and devotion, and especially -- especially -- I want to devote all my strength, all my time and all my energy to proving my innocence."<br /><br />In his letter, Strauss-Kahn said he felt compelled to resign as "I think at this time first of my wife -- whom I love more than anything -- of my children, of my family, of my friends."<br /><br />"I think also of my colleagues at the Fund; together we have accomplished such great things over the last three years and more," he wrote.<br /><br />Calls for Strauss-Kahn's resignation mounted in recent days with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying he was "obviously not in a position to run the IMF."<br /><br />The resignation came as his attorneys are preparing to appeal Thursday to New York's Supreme Court to release their client on bail.<br /><br />He has agreed to post $1 million in cash, to be confined to home detention in Manhattan with electronic monitoring and to turn over his UN travel document to "eliminate any concern that Mr. Strauss-Kahn would or could leave this court's jurisdiction," attorney Shawn P. Naunton wrote in the appeal.<br /><br />A tentative deal was in the works that could result in his release on bail as early as Thursday, CNN reported citing a source close to the defence.<br /><br />The appeal adds a number of conditions, including electronic monitoring, which were not in a bail request turned down Monday by a criminal court judge in Manhattan.<br /><br />The appeal to the state Supreme Court describes the accused as "a loving husband and father, and a highly regarded international diplomat, lawyer, politician, economist and professor, with no prior criminal record".<br /><br />It also said Strauss-Kahn has been married for more than a decade and has four children from a prior marriage, one of whom is a graduate student at Columbia University in New York.</p>