French minister moves to block US envoy Kushner from government access

The French foreign ministry says US envoy Charles Kushner should be blocked from access to the government, after he failed to explain comments about an alleged "rise" of violence in France.

Kushner, father of Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, had been summoned to meet French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday evening, but he did not attend.

Instead, he said he had a prior engagement and sent a deputy from the US embassy.

This prompted an angry response from the ministry, which accused Kushner of an "apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission" and said Barrot had requested Kushner "no longer be allowed direct access" to government ministers.

The diplomatic row began when the US embassy to France posted comments on social media about the murder of far-right nationalist Quentin Deranque.

The post warned that "violent left-wing extremism is on the rise" in France.

Deranque, a 23-year-old maths student, died in hospital on 14 February - two days after being beaten by a gang of masked young men in Lyon, in an attack which ministers from France's centre-right government have blamed on "far-left" militants.

But the US embassy's comments appear to have angered the French government.

"We reject any use of this tragedy, which has plunged a French family into mourning, for political ends," Barrot said over the weekend.

"We have no lessons to learn, particularly on the issue of violence, from the international reactionary movement," he added.

BBC News has approached the US embassy to France for comment.

Six men suspected of being involved in the fatal assault have been charged over Deranque's death, while a parliamentary assistant for a deputy from the radical left France Unbowed (LFI) party has also been charged with complicity.

LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is a likely contender in next year's presidential election, has said his party had "nothing to do with this story" and condemned "all forms of violence".

"We express our consternation, but also our empathy and compassion for [Deranque's] family and friends," he said.