French sex scandal collapses

Mr Baudis said the allegations were part of a conspiracy

French prosecutors have dropped an investigation into allegations of rape against senior politician Dominique Baudis.

"We have no evidence linking him to any crime," prosecutor Michel Breard said in a interview in Le Monde newspaper published on Thursday.

The move comes after a prostitute, known as "Fanny", withdrew allegations that Mr Baudis raped her in a brothel in the southern city of Toulouse in 1990.

Fanny and another prostitute had also said Mr Baudis - a former mayor of Toulouse who now heads France's media watchdog - had taken part in sado-masochistic orgies hosted by a serial killer.

Everything she said about me for months was just lies Dominique Baudis

Mr Baudis has strongly denied the allegations ever since they became public in May.

Fanny withdrew her accusations during a confrontation with Mr Baudis before a judge on Wednesday.

"Mr Baudis, I am sorry, I wrongly accused you," she is quoted as saying.

"I never saw you in a brothel or at sado-masochistic parties."

Vindicated

Mr Baudis, for his part, said he had never met Fanny before Wednesday's interview with the judge.

"Everything she said about me for months was just lies," he said on Thursday.

A leading anti-pornography campaigner, he has in the past said he was the victim of a conspiracy by the porn industry.

The ex-prostitutes told French television in May that sado-masochism parties had taken place near Toulouse in the early 1990s.

They said the parties were organised by Patrice Alegre, who was jailed for life in 2002 for six rapes and five murders.

Alegre backed up the prostitutes' allegations, and accused a number of officials, including Mr Baudis, of ordering some of his killings to protect themselves from blackmail.