Nairobi/Goma - A United Nations aid convoy taking supplies behind rebel lines in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not enough to meed the needs of hordes of desperate refugees, aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of civilians remain displaced after rebel Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda's forces routed the Congolese army and came on the brink of taking the city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, last week.

"Even with today's ... aid delivery, displaced people throughout North Kivu continue to be in urgent need of food, clean water, healthcare and basic items like blankets and shelter materials," MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders in English, said in a statement.

New York - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he was ready to meet with the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to bring an end to the fighting that has created a fresh humanitarian crisis in Congo's provinces.

Ban said he would visit Africa either this week or next week if Congolese President Joseph Kabila and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame were to agree on a meeting somewhere in that continent.

Ban, who had spoken to both leaders, said Kagame and Kabila have begun a dialogue along with their separate teams.

New York - United Nations officials on Monday rejected charges of incompetence by UN peacekeepers deployed at some northern and eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo where fighting has created fresh humanitarian crisis.

Some media reports in Europe and The New York Times criticized the 17,000-strong UN Mission in Congo, known as MONUC, of being powerless in the face of intensified attacks by armed rebels against government troops.

Marseille - New rules of military engagement are necessary for the 17,000 UN peacekeeping troops stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday in Marseille.

"The rules of engagement now are very restrictive," Kouchner said ahead of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in the southern French city of Marseille. "We can not have soldiers there who are not allowed to shoot. I'm not saying we should make war. But we should be able to carry out defensive missions."

Nairobi/Goma - A United Nations aid convoy aimed at providing urgent supplies to tens of thousands of refugees displaced by fierce fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo was set to depart Monday morning, an aid official said.

The convoy is to be the first aid for people trapped behind rebel lines since Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda's forces last Sunday began a four-day advance on the city of Goma, capital of the eastern North Kivu province.

Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) last Wednesday called a ceasefire, which has held so far, and has promised to open an aid corridor.

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.