France's Macron approves Pacific leaders visit to troubled New Caledonia

By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to a request for Pacific Island leaders to visit the French territory of New Caledonia to assess ongoing civil unrest between indigenous Kanaks and French loyalists.

Pacific Islands Forum chairman and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said a letter from Macron had been received by the Pacific Island Forum on Friday and a delegation of three leaders hoped to travel to New Caledonia in August.

"France have approved and supported the visit," Brown said at a media conference in Fiji, adding he expected the visit to take place before the annual Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting that starts August 26.

"There are some sensitive political dimensions that must be taken into account but we feel that our sentiment as a forum is to firstly try to reduce the incidence of violence that has taken place over the last few months but also call for dialogue as the way forward," he said.

France has sent hundreds of police to the French territory, where independence activists have paralysed traffic and movement with road blocks.

Brown said he, Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka plus either Tonga's Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni or Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele would lead the delegation.

Civil unrest erupted in New Caledonia in May over voting reforms. Indigenous Kanaks fear the reform will dilute their vote and make it harder for any future referendum on independence to pass, while Paris says the measure is needed to improve democracy.

Protest leader Christian Tein was arrested and deported to France in June.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry)