French politicians support IMF chief Strauss-Kahn

PARIS (Reuters) - French officials on Sunday backed International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is facing an investigation into whether he abused his position in an affair with a subordinate.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling UMP party, which put Strauss-Kahn forward for the job, praised his work, as did members of the IMF chief's Socialist party, where he is seen as a possible future presidential candidate.

In France, the private lives of public figures are often considered to be off-limits and several officials speculated about the motivation behind bringing the case at a time of financial crisis.

"Dominique Strauss-Kahn showed all the way through this crisis that he was on top of things," government spokesman Luc Chatel said on Radio J.

The IMF said on Saturday it was investigating whether Strauss-Kahn abused his power in an affair with Piroska Nagy, a former senior economist at the IMF's Africa division.

Her lawyer said she was not given preferential treatment before leaving the IMF in August.

Several countries have turned to the IMF for financing to help them through the financial crisis and politicians are considering its role in preventing future crises.

Some in France said the investigation was linked to Strauss-Kahn's views on the financial crisis