PARIS - THE French government on Sunday praised IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn for his handling of the financial crisis, after news broke of an investigation into his affair with a staffer.

The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it had hired an outside law firm to investigate whether Strauss-Kahn had abused his position by having an affair with the woman, who later left the IMF with compensation.

'We will see in two weeks whether there has been abuse of power or not,' said French government spokesman Luc Chatel.

'I consider that Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn has shown throughout this crisis that he was up to the task,' he added.

'Over the past weeks, he has fulfilled his role in all its aspects' and shown that he was 'the man for the job,' Mr Chatel said in a radio interview.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, 59, a former Socialist finance minister, had a liaison with Hungarian-born Piroska Nagy, who held a senior post in the IMF's Africa department.

The probe is looking into whether Mr Strauss-Kahn abused his power as IMF boss and showed any favoritism to Nagy, and whether he sought retribution once their relationship ended, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The investigation also seeks to know if Ms Nagy's severance package was excessive for a person of her position and tenure.

Ms Nagy resigned in Aug, when the fund slashed about 600 positions.

Mr Strauss-Kahn's wife, television journalist Anne Sinclair, meanwhile wrote on her blog that she had forgiven him and thanked friends and acquaintances for their messages of support.

'For my part, this one-night stand is behind us. We have moved on. Let me add in conclusion that we love each other as much as before,' she wrote. -- AFP