The European Union force in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is an advance element with the ability to provide a "capable, visible and credible presence," an officer of the mission said here on the eve of the country's general elections.

EU force is "very important" to ensure the upcoming election in DRC, said Thierry Fusalba, spokesman of the mission, in a news conference held in its base Saturday morning. The EU soldiers will join a 17,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force in the DRC, the world body's biggest mission. Of the 1,100 EU garrison already in Kinshasa, 200 are combat troops.

More than 1,300 on-call EU reinforcements have been stationed in nearby Gabon with the same purpose to help provide security for DRC's elections on Sunday, the first multi-party polls in four decades in the central Africa giant.

Security Council Resolution N. 1671 had authorized EU force in DRC to carry out such tasks as supporting the UN military force in the country in case it faces serious difficulties to stabilize the country, protecting civilians under threat of physical violence, protecting airports in Kinshasa, ensuring EU troops security and freedom of movement, and extracting individuals in danger.

The EU force's tasks will begin at wee hours on Sunday and will last four months to the end of November.

In a sham battle specifically arranged on Saturday for the journalists, mainly from the EU countries, the soldiers who are armed to the teeth showed all kinds of military skills, such as marching with armored cars and acting as riot squad.

"The EU force in DRC is able to do whatever needs to do," said the spokesman.

Violence has continued in several areas, especially the mineral- rich east. UN peacekeepers, thinly stretched across the country, have been struggling to contain rebel and militia activity in the east alongside the Congolese national army.

According to the spokesman, EU force will be the last line of defense for any possible conflicts during the elections, before which there are firstly Congolese police, secondly a fledgling Congolese national army, and thirdly UN peacekeeping mission.

The EU force will interfere with any kinds of conflicts in an emergency need from the UN peacekeeping mission, the spokesman added.

Source: Xinhua