Nairobi/Goma - British Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived in the violence-torn Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday evening, at the same time playing down prospects of British troops being sent to the country to back up UN peacekeepers.

Miliband arrived along with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, according to a report by the London-based Press Association, in a bid to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the east of the country.

The foreign secretary's remark about possible British forces was prompted by earlier comments to BBC by Mark Malloch-Brown, Minister for Africa, that the deployment of British and other European troops might be necessary if diplomacy fails to stem the conflict.

"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.

But Miliband, according to PA said it was up to the UN to ensure aid reached the tens of thousands of refugees forced to flee the fighting. "We are not at the moment looking at sending British troops to join the UN force," he was quoted as telling reporters during a visit to a refugee camp in eastern Congo.

Earlier Saturday, reports said that the Congolese and Rwandan presidents had agreed to attend a regional summit aimed at resolving the conflict.

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.

Michel flew into the DR Congo on Thursday in an attempt to defuse the conflict between Tutsi rebels and government forces, which blew up into four days of full-scale fighting earlier this week.

Fighting raged for four days and UN peacekeepers joined the battle, pounding Rebel Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People 
(CNDP) with helicopter gunships.

UN peacekeepers were, however, stretched to the limit by the fighting and the UN's top envoy in DR Congo, Alan Doss, has called for more troops to add to the 17,000 contingent already in the sprawling Central African nation.

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.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Friday urged Nkunda to stick to the ceasefire and said the situation was "very threatening."

The ceasefire continued to hold Saturday, but fears were growing for the fate of the tens of thousands who fled the rebel advance.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said the situation was "desperate." According to UNCHR, rebel forces forcibly emptied refugee camps and burned them to the ground during their advance on Goma. (dpa)