"The ultimatum was put back by 24 hours so that everything is properly understood," spokesman Colonel Gerard Dubois told reporters on Tuesday, when the deadline had been due to expire.

A ban on visible weapons had been expected to come into force late Tuesday morning in Bunia, where ethnic clashes left hundreds of people dead last month, prompting the UN to authorise the deployment of a multinational security force.

Dubois explained that the ultimatum had been pushed back so that certain details, such as the exact size of an exempted security contingent for rebel leader Thomas Lubanga, could be finalised.

The ultimatum was now expected to expire around midday on Wednesday, although Dubois reiterated the flexibility of the time frame.

Very few gunmen were visible in Bunia on Tuesday, although some of Lubanga's armed men did deploy in one southern district in response to an alleged incursion by rival fighters.

The demilitarisation of Bunia is a key provision of various formal engagements made by most of the armed groups active in the area.

The process is not a full-scale disarmament operation and the only weapons the EU force says it will confiscate are those figthers carry on the streets.

WAR.WIRE