British troops may be sent to back up UN in Congo

British troops could be sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a European force to deal with the humanitarian crisis if a fragile ceasefire collapses, the Government said yesterday.

Gordon Brown last night warned that the crisis in the east African country must not become "another Rwanda" as diplomatic efforts in the region escalated.

EU countries are preparing to back up the United Nations force in Goma, where only 850 international combat troops are based, if fierce fighting again erupts in eastern Congo.

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The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, arrived in Goma, the provincial capital, yesterday to spearhead diplomatic efforts between the country and neighbouring Rwanda.

The Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown said the UN force could be strengthened by troops from Britain and other countries if the ceasefire crumbles. But the suggestion caused consternation among some MPs because British troops are already overstretched by commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More than 220,000 civilians have already fled their homes amid violence between militia rebels and government troops.

Mr Miliband and Mr Kouchner yesterday flew to Goma, the scene of some of the worst fighting, to assess the scale of the crisis. They were due to meet Rwandan president Paul Kagame, whose country has been accused of aiding the Tutsi rebels, and the Congolese president, Joseph Kabila, in the DRC capital Kinshasa.

Mr Kagame and Mr Kabila have agreed to a regional summit in Nairobi within weeks, but rebel leader Laurent Nkunda has not yet been asked to join the talks.

Save the Children said a ceasefire around Goma appeared to be holding, but the charity was fighting to get emergency food and water to tens of thousands of displaced people. The charity had been forced to pull out of the provincial capital of Goma but its workers were now moving back into the city.

Lord Malloch Brown said the UK could not stand back if the fighting between government and rebel forces erupted again. He told BBC's Today programme: "We have certainly got to have it as an option which is developed and on the table if we need it.

"The first line of call on this should be the deployment of the UN's own troops from elsewhere in the country. But we have got to have plans. If everything else fails we cannot stand back and watch violence erupt. Britain is currently the so-called standby country which would indeed need to contribute."

The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, speaking before he left for a tour of the Gulf, said: "My worry is about the thousands of people being displaced at the moment by the violence that is taking place. There is only a solution to this by discussion and not by military means."

Patrick Mercer, Conservative MP and former Army officer, said: "I am absolutely delighted that there is yet more employment for British armed forces but where are these troops coming from?... We haven't got any more troops left.

"They are gagging for an extra brigade in Helmand, and frankly our spearhead battalion would have to be some sort of patchwork quilt of troops borrowed from all sorts of different units to make it up to strength. There is a very serious crisis in infantry, and promising troops all around the world is one thing, but actually finding them... is another."

Charities warned that, unless supplies reach refugees soon, hundreds could be at risk of dying of starvation and disease.

Save the Children spokesman Dominic Nutt said: "The ceasefire around Goma seems to be holding and we are taking advantage of the precarious lull in the fighting to attempt to assess the situation so that we can target those in need with emergency feeding and clean water.

"Across the wider region we are already helping around 3,000 families who have lost everything in the panic to escape the violence. Not least among our concerns is the high number of young children who have been separated from their parents in their bid to escape.

"We have set up a family reunion scheme, something we have become expert in over our many years of work in the DRC, so that we can reunite lost children with their parents. Those who become separated are at the highest risk of hunger, thirst and disease."

The United Nations' deputy representative and humanitarian coordinator in Congo said more than one million people in total have been displaced — 220,000 of them since August.

Mr Nkunda called the ceasefire on Wednesday to free up a humanitarian corridor, but this was kept shut by rebel guards manning checkpoints.