Berlin - A senior Rwandan official, Rose Kabuye, who has been arrested in Germany on a European warrant, has agreed to be extradited to France, a justice official said Monday in Frankfurt.

Kabuye, 47, is chief of protocol to Rwandan President Paul Kagame and a leading member of his Rwandan Patriotic Front.

After her Sunday detention when she landed in Frankfurt, Rwandan authorities immediately summoned the German ambassador in Kigali to protest.

Paris - Afghan-born Atiq Rahimi was on Monday named winner of France's most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, for his novel Synge Sabour.

The title of the novel - Rahimi's fourth, but the first to be written in French - is taken from the Persian name of a magic black stone that represents patience and which absorbs all suffering and pain.

The book is in the form of a monologue of an Afghan woman addressing her soldier-husband who lies in a coma in their house.

The monologue ultimately becomes an outcry for all Afghan women - indeed, all women - about wishing to become free of domestic, social and religious oppression and a tirade against the man whom she is nursing.

Paris - A poll released on Monday showed that French President Nicolas Sarkozy's forceful handling of the financial crisis and his calls to reform capitalism have given his popularity a substantial boost.

According to the survey, which was conducted by the Viavoice institute for the daily Liberation, 48 per cent of respondents said they had a "positive opinion" of Sarkozy, a jump of 8 percentage points over one month ago and his best showing since January.

Sarkozy's popularity surge was due in large part to left-wing voters, among whom he gained 10 points, to a positive rating of 29 per cent.

Berlin - Germany faced a diplomatic row with Rwanda Monday after arresting a senior Rwandan official, Rose Kabuye, at Frankfurt international airport on an arrest warrant from France.

She has been wanted for questioning since last November in connection with the April 6, 1994 killing of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana. She is chief of protocol to Rwandan President Paul Kagame and a leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

Rwanda broke off diplomatic relations with France after the warrant was issued by magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere.

Diplomatic sources in Berlin said Germany warned beforehand that it would arrest her if she travelled to Frankfurt.

Paris  - Metal pipes placed atop overhead power-supply lines in northern France have crippled high-speed rail transport between Paris and other European cities, rail company SNCF said Saturday.

It was not known who placed the pipes on the lines between Paris and Lille, but SNCF said it was preparing to file charges for the "malicious act."

More than 40 trains between Paris and London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne had to be transferred to traditional tracks, resulting in trains running between one and three hours late.

Paris - Spain's largest tour and travel group, Marsans, has ordered 61 aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus, including four A380 superjumbos, Airbus said on Friday.

The order also includes 10 long-haul A350 planes, which will not be delivered to customers until at least 2013, and 42 planes from the medium-distance A320 family, Airbus said in a statement released in the southern French city of Toulouse.

"We are very proud to become the first operators of the A380 in Spain and Latin America," Marsans head Gonzalo Pascual said.