Macron asks Rwanda to drop Mushikiwabo before Francophonie vote

Emmanuel Macron asked Rwanda to withdraw Louise Mushikiwabo from the race to lead the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, pressing for a compromise candidate before Monday's vote.

The French president made the request in Phnom Penh, where the 53-member organisation opens a summit on Sunday. Mushikiwabo, the incumbent secretary-general, is standing for another term against three other candidates, among them DR Congo's Juliana Lumumba.

Rwanda refused. Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said his country had "rejected" the request, after a story in Jeune Afrique magazine reported Macron's move.

DR Congo, the world's second-largest French-speaking country, has threatened to quit the organisation in the event that Mushikiwabo is re-elected on Monday. Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group's activities inside DR Congo, which Kigali denies.

On Saturday, DR Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said Kinshasa was ready to withdraw Lumumba if Rwanda did likewise in favour of a third candidate who could deliver consensus and unity. "We would be prepared to withdraw our candidate's nomination," she said.

The two neighbours, already mired in cross-border conflict, carried the dispute into the contest to head the group of French-speaking states and governments.