Criminal charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn were dropped in August

A hotel maid's civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault by Dominique Strauss-Kahn can proceed to trial, a New York judge has said.

The judge rejected the former International Monetary Fund (IMF) head's bid to have the case dismissed on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.

The woman, Nafissatou Diallo, says Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in his hotel suite in May 2011. He denies it.

Prosecutors dropped criminal charges in the case last summer.

'Shaped by agenda'

Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon said diplomatic immunity did not apply to Mr Strauss-Kahn at the time of the 14 May encounter at a Sofitel Hotel in New York City.

"Confronted with well settled law that his voluntary resignation from the IMF terminated any immunity which he enjoyed... Mr Strauss-Kahn, threw (legally speaking, that is) his own version of a 'Hail Mary pass'," Judge McKeon wrote.

Nafissatou Diallo says Dominique Strauss-Kahn forced her to perform oral sex

Ms Diallo, 33, has said Mr Strauss-Kahn, 63, forced her to perform oral sex; he says the encounter was consensual.

DNA evidence suggests that a sexual encounter did take place between the two. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17911888