Germany opposed to longer EU Congo mission

LEVI, Finland, Oct 2 (Reuters) Germany today said the EU peace force it leads in the Democratic Republic of Congo should leave as planned on Nov. 30 despite pressure to stay longer to ensure no further flare-ups of violence.

The 1,000-strong European Union force is due to leave days after the planned announcement of the results of an Oct. 29 run-off between President Joseph Kabila and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, an event some fear could spark new tension.

The force was assembled only after initial reluctance by EU nations to take part in efforts to protect the July 30 elections that were Congo's first free polls in 40 years and meant to draw a line under a 1998-2003 war that killed 4 million people.

Germany, which took leadership of the EU force despite fierce domestic opposition, told reporters at a meeting of EU defence ministers in the northern Finnish town of Levi that it was opposed to any extension of the mission.

''I think we should stick with Nov. 30,'' Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters, declining to speculate on whether new troubles could be expected.

However France, the other major contributor to the force, said it could envisage an extension of up to a month if the United Nations -- whose troops the EU is supporting -- requested it in a new resolution.

''We could envisage staying there until the end of the year if need be. But France does not believe that EU missions should be extended indefinitely,'' an aide to Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said.

RISKS A senior U.N. official pointed to the risks of running down the peacekeeping force too soon.

''We've had one or two recent examples of what happens when peacekeeping forces are drawn out too quickly -- East Timor, and difficulties to some extent in Burundi,'' U.N. Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown said on a visit to Brussels.

''So we want try and keep the troop level at something like its present (level) for a while just to make sure that we've seen the DRC through to a stable, democratic future,'' he told a news conference.

While Malloch Brown made clear he was speaking mainly of the larger U.N. Mission in Congo (MONUC), he also said the European troops had played a key role in containing an outbreak of violence in Kinshasa after the first round of voting.

Christian Damay, the French commander of operations on the ground in Kinshasa, said recently that troops should remain at least until the Dec. 10 swearing-in of a new president, and others doubt any fast pull-out is possible.

''We never know what is going to happen so they (the EU force) absolutely must stay on,'' said Dieudonne Mirimo, spokesman for the election commission.

''They should stay until the installation of the new government. This will happen by the end of the year.'' Any extension of the European force's mandate would have to be agreed through talks between the EU and the United Nations and have the blessing of the Congolese government.

REUTERS SK BD2248