AFP and Reuters are coming under criticism after they withdrew an unflattering picture of French President Francois Hollande.

Both agencies supply news and photo content to other media organisations, and after first offering the image of the Premier greeting students in a French school on their first day back later issued kill notices asking clients not to use the image.

It featured Hollande standing in front of a black board with the message 'Aujourd 'hui, c'est le rentrée' - today we're back to school.

And here's what AFP's retraction looked like:

Hollande's is currently involved in intense internal discussions with members of his government about whethar or not to intervene in the Syrian crisis.

World leaders are meeting at the G20 summit in Russia this week, where icy relations between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladamir Putin are expected to thwart progress on Syria.