Former IMF chief jeered at Cambridge varsity

At least two people were arrested as protesters scuffled with police and jeered at former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was invited to give a speech to a university debating society in Cambridge.

Strauss-Kahn was invited by the Cambridge Union Society, which said it had asked him before allegations arose about a sex attack on a chambermaid in the US, BBC reported.

His visit to the university Friday was opposed by the Cambridge University Student Union Women's Campaign that said the charges he faced should have given the society "pause for thought" about who it invited.

The society, however, said Strauss-Kahn had a right to "free speech".

Though the sex assault charges led to his resignation from the IMF, the criminal probe against Strauss-Kahn in New York was dropped in August. An investigation in Paris was dropped in October.

The BBC said Strauss-Kahn was Friday ushered in through a back entrance to the Cambridge venue amid shouts of "you must be ashamed of yourself" from a lone protester.

Security guards protected the entrances to the building but protesters tried to scale the fences at the back of the compound, leading police to arrest two people.

A 19-year-old man was held on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and a 23-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of breaching the peace, a police spokeswoman said.At least one university building had been defaced, the report said.

Journalists were forbidden to hear Strauss-Kahn's speech. However, a student who was in the audience said the French economist was asked about the chambermaid incident and he told listeners he had been "acquitted".