By Laurence Frost
PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Senior Renault board member Thierry Desmarest has resigned from the French carmaker, sources told Reuters, days ahead of a meeting at which Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn is asking directors to back his chosen successor's appointment.
Desmarest's exit comes amid renewed tensions between Renault and its biggest shareholder, the French government, which had pressed Ghosn to recruit a second-in-command who could one day succeed him at the helm of the Renault-Nissan alliance. (Reporting by Laurence Frost, additional reporting by Michel Rose Editing by Geert De Clercq)