By Franz Wild
Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of civilians displaced by fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo face a humanitarian crisis, European officials said, as the United Nations prepared to send aid to a rebel-held town today.
Tens of thousands of people need food, shelter, water and medicines in North Kivu province, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement after visiting the region at the weekend.
``The crisis, even if averted in the short term, will return without a new, vigorous and united political effort,'' they said, after meeting in Dar es Salaam with Jakaya Kikwete, who is chairman of the African Union and president of Tanzania, to discuss the emergency.
Two months of fighting between the army and rebels, who say they are defending Congo's Tutsi minority, has forced 250,000 people from their homes, according to the UN. Aid agencies will deliver medical supplies and water today to Rutshuru, 70 kilometers (42 miles) north of the provincial capital, Goma, said Gloria Fernandez, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Congo.
``The first priority for us is to restart activities at many medical centers,'' she told reporters in Goma yesterday.
The rebel National Congress for the Defense of the People, or CNDP, occupied Rutshuru on Oct. 28. The rebels, led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda, declared a cease-fire the following day.
Killed, Raped
North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku yesterday imposed a curfew on Goma, saying elements of the Congolese Armed Forces had killed, raped and looted in the city after fleeing the rebel offensive.
``Goma is not safe at the moment,'' he said in an interview. ``There are soldiers shooting around. People should stay home'' between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
The cease-fire must be bolstered and the Congolese government ``should take proper command of its forces,'' Miliband and Kouchner said in the statement. ``Regional states have a vital contribution to make.''
President Joseph Kabila has failed to establish peace in Congo's east, the origin of two civil wars between 1996 and 2003 in which 4 million people died. Six other African countries, including Rwanda and Uganda, sent armies to those conflicts.
Nkunda says he's defending ethnic Tutsis from a mainly Rwandan Hutu militia, whose leaders allegedly took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Kabila denies backing the militia and says the rebels are receiving support from the Tutsi-led government in neighboring Rwanda. Rwanda rejects the allegation.
The UN peacekeeping mission, which comprises about 16,475 soldiers, with the largest contributions from Pakistan, India, Uruguay and Bangladesh, should be strengthened, Miliband and Kouchner said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Franz Wild in Goma via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net
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