Prosecutors have opened an inquiry into an alleged rape of a female soldier by a fellow serviceman at the French presidential palace in Paris last July, a judicial source told AFP on Friday. 

The alleged assault took place last July after a going-away reception for a general and two others that was attended by President Emmanuel Macron, according to French daily Liberation, which first reported the accusations.

The accused soldier was named an assistant witness after questioning by prosecutors on July 12, a status indicating he remains subject to further interrogations, but has not been formally charged, the source said. 

According to Liberation, the two soldiers were colleagues deployed at the high-security office at the Elysee Palace dealing with sensitive government matters, most of them classified or top secret. 

It said that the young woman filed the rape complaint at a nearby police station and that the alleged accuser has been removed from duty at the Elysee. 

Asked for comment, a presidential official told AFP that "as soon as the authorities were aware of these claims, measures were immediately taken" to support the alleged victim and "the person accused was immediately transferred far from the Elysee." The defense ministry declined to comment.