EU to consider DRC peacekeeping
DR Congo is host to the UN's largest peacekeeping mission which will face its biggest challenge in three months' time when national elections are held.
The EU has been asked to send additional peacekeeping troops to cover the sensitive election period.
Meanwhile, the UN head of peacekeeping begins a visit to there on Tuesday.
Jean-Marie Guehenno is due to spend 10 days in DR Congo, a long visit for such a senior official, but one which reflects the importance of the UN's most expensive peacekeeping operation.
The elections, due to be held in June, will be the biggest and most complex the organization has ever supported.
The UN has asked the European Union to supply hundreds of extra peacekeepers to cover the election period.
Any such European force would probably be based in the capital Kinshasa, a senior UN official said, and part of it might remain on standby in Europe, rather than deploy straight away.
UN peacekeepers have been in Congo since 2000.
France and Germany have said they would probably contribute to a new force, but both are waiting to see what the exact mandate would be.
A German spokesman said Berlin was ready to give troops on the understanding that as many European countries as possible also contributed.
Most of the peacekeepers currently serving the UN in DR Congo are from developing countries.
A senior UN official in Congo, speaking on condition of anonymity, said European troops would represent a more effective deterrent to any faction that wanted to disrupt the elections.
At its height a few years ago, the war in DR Congo involved the armies of at least six countries backing various local factions.
Following a peace agreement, the UN has encouraged the foreign armies to leave, but rebellions in the east of the country are still causing humanitarian crises.
In one eastern village alone, in the province of Ituri, the UN says 8,000 people are being held by rebels as human shields; in the province of Katanga, another rebellion has broken out.