The case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will continue despite the legal wrangling between the prosecution team and Strauss-Kahn's main accuser.

The New York case against Strauss-Kahn faced a potential fatal set-back last Friday when the prosecution questioned the credibility of the hotel maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually molesting and attempting to rape her. This Wednesday lawyers for the maid demanded a new prosecutor saying that the New York district attorney's office had a potential conflict of interest.

Kenneth Thompson, the lawyer for the hotel maid, wrote in a letter that he believed the District Attorney's office was behind the leak that the 32- year old maid referred to Strauss-Kahn's wealth in a conversation with an incarcerated friend. He demanded that District Attorney Cyrus Vance immediately remove himself from the case and appoint a special prosecutor as his replacement.

According to a report in the Herald Sun, Thompson said he wanted to ensure her rights "are not further prejudiced by deliberate acts seeking to undermine her credibility".

The prosecution had admitted in a court hearing that it had grave doubts about the witness' credibility. The prosecution said she had given false information about tax and asylum application forms as well as an alleged gang rape in Guinea. She also recanted her version of events of the alleged sexual assault. In a previous statement she said she left Strauss-Kahn's room after the alleged assault and waited in the hallway until he had gone.

She later recanted that story and said she had went on to clean another room and returned to Strauss-Kahn's room to clean it before telling a supervisor about the alleged incident.

Thompson also mentioned the "potential conflict of interest" because the head of the prosecutor's trial division is married to one of Strauss-Kahn's lawyers.

The two sides had a private meeting the DA's office on Wednesday in which lawyers for both the defense and the prosecution discussed whether to continue the case to trial, or dismissal.

"We had a constructive meeting. That's all I'm going to say," Strauss-Kahn's lawyer Benjamin Brafman said.

"The investigation is continuing," a spokesman from Vance's office said after the conclusion of the meeting.