International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned following allegations he sexually assaulted a hotel maid in New York.
In a statement, Mr Strauss-Kahn - who is being held in Rikers Island prison - said he wanted to "devote all my strength... to proving my innocence."
Strauss-Kahn was billed to make a fresh application for bail late on Thursday.
Whether his successor comes from the developed or developing world will be a topic of hot debate, analysts say.
In the statement the embattled IMF chief said it was with "infinite sadness" that he tendered his resignation.
He said:"I think at this time first of my wife - whom I love more than anything - of my children, of my family, of my friends. I think also of my colleagues at the Fund."
Strauss Kahn said he denied "with the greatest possible firmness" all of the allegations against him, but said he wanted to protect the IMF.
The IMF said it would release information "in the near future" about appointing a successor.
The organisation's deputy, John Lipsky, has been in interim control of the IMF since Mr Strauss-Kahn's arrest on Saturday.
Dominique Moisi, a special adviser at the French Institute for International Relations, said it was sad that "a brilliant career" had ended in "such an indignant way".
But he added that some in France were coming to believe that "there is maybe a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the personality of Mr Strauss-Kahn".
The pressure had been growing on Strauss-Kahn both at home and abroad, says the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had led calls for him to stand down, followed by the head of the governing right-wing UMP party in France, Jean-Francois Cope, who said he couldn't see how Mr Strauss-Kahn could carry on.
Analysts say Strauss-Kahn's resignation heralds a battle between established and emerging economies over who will get the top job.
Traditionally, the US names the head of the World Bank, while the top job at the IMF goes to a European.
A Chinese government spokeswoman said the selection process should be based on "merit, transparency and fairness" - adding "we believe that emerging and developing countries should have representation at senior levels", Reuters reported.
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