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.

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.

Berlin - Germany backs a call to boost the size of a European Union relief fund for nations facing balance of payments difficulties, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin Friday.

A proposal to increase the fund to 20 billion euros (25 billion dollars) was originally made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The fund exists to lend money to EU members that run short of foreign exchange.

Merkel's spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said the chancellor would back Sarkozy on the issue at an EU summit on November 7 in Brussels.

Brussels - Europe and the United States should push for international intervention in third countries to prevent conflict, a European Union briefing paper says.

The paper on future EU-US relations, drawn up by the French presidency of the EU, is due to be discussed by the bloc's foreign ministers Monday, the eve of the US presidential election.

It is intended to help the EU set up a "minimum common platform" of principles which each member state will use in dealing with the next US president, the text's preamble says.

Brussels - The European Union on Friday urged Israel to put an end to "brutal" attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

"The European Union once again condemns in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence and brutality committed against Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank," said a statement issued by the French presidency of the EU on behalf of the bloc's 27 member states.

"The European Union would point out that it is up to the Israeli government, which has itself condemned these acts, to take the necessary measures to stop them immediately, in accordance with its international obligations," the EU said.

Kampala - International economists and policy experts on Thursday warned that Africa could be devastated by the current global credit crisis if governments fail to take serious precautions.

Dangers include: a dwindling of aid from the United States, Europe and other developed countries; a downturn in tourism; and losses of revenue from the export of oil and other commodities. These dangers could disrupt national economic plans, warned experts meeting at a one-day summit hosted by the Copenhagen-based Africa Commission.

"We might see a downward trend for commodity prices. ... The crisis is already affecting oil revenues," said Greg Mills, director of the Brent Hurst Foundation and chairman of the conference.