London - Deployment of British and other European troops might be necessary if diplomacy fails to stem the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a senior British government official told the BBC Saturday.

"We have certainly got to have it as an option which is developed and on the table if we need it," Mark Malloch-Brown, Minister for Africa, told the BBC.

He said that if diplomacy fails, the first step should be the redeployment of United Nations troops already operating elsewhere in the Congo.

Nairobi/Goma - The Congolese and Rwandan presidents have agreed to attend a regional summit aimed at resolving the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, reports said Saturday.

The European Union's Aid Commissioner Louis Michel, who held talks with both leaders, told the BBC that Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame had agreed to meet at a summit involving the African Union and other African leaders.

The top US envoy for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, was also in the DR Congo, while French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband were also due to visit the DR Congo and Rwanda.

One possible venue for the meeting is Nairobi, Kenya.

Brussels - European Union Development Commissioner Louis Michel called Friday for an international summit meeting to resolve the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Only a political solution that roots out the causes of the conflict can bring stability," he said after talks with Congo President Joseph Kabila and his Rwanda counterpart Paul Kagame.

Michel said the meeting should be held under UN auspices in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Nairobi/Goma - Desperate civilians who fled a relentless rebel offensive in east Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this week were beginning to return home Friday as a fragile ceasefire continued to hold, an aid agency said.

Rebel Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda on Wednesday evening called a ceasefire as his troops were on the verge of taking the major city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

Tens of thousands of people, many of them from the town of Kibumba, north of Goma, fled the advance as the Congolese army went into full retreat.

Cologne, Germany - Women and children caught up in the fighting in eastern Congo are in urgent need of help, the UN Children's Fund UNICEF said Friday.

More than a quarter-of-a-million refugees had fled the fighting in recent days between the Congolese army and rebels under the leadership of General Laurent Nkunda.

Many children had been separated from their parents, making them

more vulnerable to abuse, UNICEF said. There was also a danger of young boys being forcibly recruited by armed groups when they are displaced.

Paris - The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband are shortly to travel to the threatened Congolese city of Goma.