David Miliband will fly to the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo to help forge a peace deal.

The Foreign Secretary announced the mercy mission to the troubled central African nation alongside French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner as aid agencies warn of a "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis.

More than 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in eastern DRC in recent weeks following the collapse of a United Nations-brokered ceasefire.

The Department for International Development said it was sending a further £5 million in aid to provide food, water and shelter for refugees from the violence.

Forces loyal to rebel General Laurent Nkunda, who says he is fighting to defend the Tutsi minority in the violent east of the country, advanced to the edge of the city before calling a ceasefire.

Taking advantage of an uneasy calm in and around Goma after heavy fighting earlier this week, many foreign humanitarian agencies restarted operations, distributing water and food to displaced civilians at Kibati, 12 miles to the north.

Pierre-Emmanuel Ducruet, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said frightened civilians are moving both north and south out of Goma to escape potential combat zones.

He said: "The situation is catastrophic. There is no other word."

General Nkunda, who blamed government soldiers for the violence in Goma, has said he has ordered his fighters to open up "humanitarian corridors" through their lines.

The rebel leader, who has abandoned a January peace deal, has called for a neutral mediator to negotiate a lasting peace.

The Tutsi chief has accused Congolese president Joseph Kabila's government and army of supporting Hutu rebels in east Congo, who previously took part in the 1994 mass killings of Tutsis in neighbouring Rwanda.

Although a five-year war in Congo ended in 2003, conflict has persisted in the east as armed groups, created during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, continue killing, looting and raping.

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