Miliband: No UK troops for Congo

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Britain is currently responsible for providing the stand-by battalion for European Union military operations abroad, leading to speculation that 500 men from 4th Battalion, The Rifles, may be sent to the troubled central African state.

Aid agencies have called on the EU to provide troops to reinforce the current 17,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission amid fighting between Government forces and militias around the eastern city of Goma.

Mr Miliband fuelled speculation about a British deployment following a two-day trip to Congo last week, when he said that no options had been ruled out. But on Sunday he was clear that it was up to African states to provide the forces to restore stability and protect refugees.

Asked whether the UK could send troops, he replied: "That's not on the agenda, no."

The Foreign Secretary told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "Part of the purpose of my visit there last weekend with the French Foreign Minister was to make sure that the African Union engaged properly.

"We visited Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo; we visited Goma and one of the refugee camps that is coping with very, very large numbers of people; and we also went to Kigali in Rwanda because it's obviously important that there is a proper regional solution. You won't get that without the African Union engaging and that's why we went to Tanzania to talk to the President of the African Union."

Meanwhile, the head of the armed forces, Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup told the programme: "The United Nations has 17,000 troops on the ground, so there are more than enough military there already. They do need to be deployed properly, they need to be supported properly and they need to be used without national caveats, but there should be quite sufficient military in theatre."

Asked whether the armed forces would be able to provide 1,000 troops if required to by the Prime Minister, Sir Jock replied: "Well, we can do all sorts of things, but there's a cost. And by cost, I don't mean to the Exchequer. I mean to our people and to their families."