Miliband begins Congo crisis talks
Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner are beginning a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) amid intense diplomatic efforts to end the fighting between rebels and government forces.
Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian crisis with more than 250,000 people forced to flee their homes in eastern DRC in recent weeks following the collapse of a United Nations-brokered ceasefire.
Britain's Department for International Development is sending a further £5 million in aid to provide food, water and shelter for refugees from the violence.
Mr Miliband and Mr Kouchner will use their visit to the region to impress upon DRC President Joseph Kabila and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame the need to use their influence to end the conflict.
The Rwandans are accused of providing support for the rebel forces of General Laurent Nkunda - a claim they deny. Gen Nkunda says he is fighting to protect his Tutsi followers from Rwandan Hutus, some of whom are accused of taking part in the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
A Foreign Office spokesman said Mr Miliband and Mr Kouchner would be emphasising to both presidents how precarious the situation has become.
"They will impress upon the leaders of both countries the seriousness of the situation, the need to engage urgently to find a solution to the underlying problem and to take stock of the situation as they find it," the spokesman said.
"They are not going to set unrealistic ambitions for the visit but the fact that they are going illustrates the level of concern that we and the French have."
They are following hard on the heels of America's senior envoy for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, and Alan Doss, the UN envoy, who flew into the provincial capital of Goma on Friday.
The rebels are threatening to take the city unless a temporary ceasefire is guaranteed by UN peacekeepers.
