Britain backs bigger UN Congo force

A Congolese boy held his brother yesterday at the Kibati displaced persons camp outside Goma. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

NEW YORK - Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain said yesterday he will support a UN plan to send 3,000 more troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo, but said the force must have better leadership and equipment.

The United Nations has a 17,000-strong peacekeeping force in Congo, its largest in the world. However, officials have said more are needed to stop civilian deaths.

Brown arrived in New York ahead of weekend talks in Washington on the global financial crisis. He will meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to discuss the escalation in violence in Congo, where civilian deaths have mounted and a cease-fire between government and rebel forces has broken down.

"We have the means and the will to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and we will not shirk from our responsibilities," Brown said in a statement.

"Our support for that is subject to the force being properly equipped, enabled and led," Brown said. "They need to be mandated to intervene robustly to protect civilians."

The UN Security Council is likely to review the rules of engagement being used by the peacekeeping force, a spokesman for Brown's office said.

Years of sporadic violence in eastern Congo intensified in August, and fighting between the army and fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda has displaced at least 250,000 people since then - despite the presence of the UN peacekeepers.

ASSOCIATED PRESS