Ministers Michele Alliot-Marie of France and Andre Flahaut of Belgium flew in a French air force C130 transport to an air base near the town of Bunia and were whisked to the command headquarters under the eye of French and Swedish special forces manning heavily armed jeeps.

They were scheduled to lunch with some of the troops after talks with the command staff, led by French General Jean-Paul Thonier.

The ministers also visited a medical center set up by Belgium.

France has contributed 1,500 men to the 1,850-strong, nine-nation force.

The force was sent in after it became clear that 700 UN peacekeepers already deployed in the troubled Ituri province in the northeastern part of the DRCongo were not enough to keep the warring sides apart.

Later Friday, the two ministers were due to fly to Entebbe in neighbouring Uganda, where the force has its operational headquarters, to meet with troops there and hold talks with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

They were then scheduled to fly to the DR Congo capital of Kinshasa for talks with President Joseph Kabila on Saturday.

In Bunia, the ministers inspected a contingent of Bangladeshi troops, equipped with armored vehicles, the vanguard of a strengthened UN peacekeeping force that is scheduled to replace the European troops on September 1.

The European mission, which is codenamed Artemis, has several French, Belgian and Brazilian transport planes at its disposal, in addition to four Mirage fighers, helicopters and a reconnaisance plane, all of which are based in Entebbe.

WAR.WIRE