Belgian PM's resignation rejected

Francois Xavier de Donnea, Raymond Langendries and Karl-Heinz Lambertz accepted the mission and would report back at the end of the month, the statement said.

"The king has refused to accept the resignation of the government and has asked the government to promote the chances of success of this mission as much as possible," the palace said in a statement.

Mr Leterme, head of a Dutch and French-speaking coalition, had set a 15 July deadline to push through his devolution plans.

But in French-speaking Wallonia - where unemployment is higher and the economy sluggish - there were fears devolution would leave their region worse off.

No single party bridges the linguistic and geographic gulf between Belgium's two regions.

Traditionally, the prime minister comes from one of the majority Flemish parties.