"The offensive against the FDLR (Rwandan Hutu rebels) began a spiral of violence against civilians which has forced 250,000 to flee their homes and caused untold death and suffering that continues to this day." said Marcel Stoessel, head of Oxfam in Kinshasa. The FDLR rebels are accused of carrying out the 1994 Rwanda genocide that killed nearly one million people. Congo's army and troops from neighbouring Rwanda launched a joint operation in January against the Rwandan Hutu rebels, who are seen as a root cause of 15 years of festering conflict in eastern Congo. But following a Rwandan pullout a month later, the mainly Hutu rebels have stepped up reprisals against civilians and re-taken ground they lost during the offensive The 17,000-strong U.N. force has requested a temporary increase of 3,000 troops and police to help it deal with renewed fighting in the area. "VERY DELICATE SITUATION" "We are aware of the very delicate situation regarding the protection of civilians," Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich, military spokesman for the force, told Reuters.

"We are putting a lot of efforts into joint planning and protection That is why we can see some delays," he added The U.N. force and the Congolese army are preparing to expand operations against the FDLR into neighbouring South Kivu, and aid agencies fear this could worsen a humanitarian disaster in the east where more than a million people have fled fighting since late 2006. According to Oxfam, 100,000 people have already fled their homes in South Kivu, even before the new offensive. "By any yardstick it has been a humanitarian disaster, and one the world has ignored The U.N.

force's top priority in Congo must be to protect the lives of innocent civilians "The U.N. needs to be aware of the full implications of continuing to support military action in the present circumstances," said Stoessel. Human rights groups have also called on the United Nations Security Council to improve rights protection and justice in Africa conflict hotspots. The Security Council is due to visit Liberia, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia later this month.

Human Rights Watch urged the Council to "focus on the protection of civilians, justice, and human rights" in Congo.(Additional reporting and writing by David Lewis in Dakar) Congo Congo. MAY 31 AT 9PM (ET/PT) LIVE FROM GIBSON AMPHITHEATRE IN UNIVERSAL CITY,CALIFORNIA Band To Perform LIVE On MTV For The First Time NEW YORK, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Setting the stage for some of this summer'smost talked about performances, MTV announced today that rock icons Kings ofLeon will perform at the "2009 MTV Movie Awards." The band will perform theirrock anthem "Use Somebody" from their hit album "Only By The Night." Hosted byAndy Samberg, the "MTV Movie Awards" will air on Sunday, May 31st at 9PM (LiveET/Tape Delayed PT). Witha red carpet this hot, viewers can expect another year of incredible pairingsand extreme moments.The "2009 MTV Movie Awards" marks the first year in which the final nomineeswere decided on by the fans. A movie megabattle between devotees of "Twilight"and "Slumdog Millionaire," both movies are neck-in-neck as each film hasnominations in six award categories. MTV will up the cinematic fun quotientthis year by debuting the two new categories "BEST SONG FROM A MOVIE" and"BEST WTF MOMENT." Fans will get the chance to vote on their favorite moviesoundtrack hit and pick year's most jaw-dropping "WTF" movie moment that leftaudiences speechless. Viewers can decide the golden popcorn destiny of theirfavorite flicks by visiting MovieAwards.MTV before May 27 to vote fortheir favorite film moments and actors but the category of "BEST MOVIE" willbe a fight to the end as voting for favorite film of the year will remain openthroughout the LIVE show.

MovieAwards.MTV is the official site for the "MTV Movie Awards" where fanscan visit to vote and stay to check out show promos starring Andy Samberg andsome of today's hottest celebs, get up-to-date info and watch MTV News nomineeinterviews. During the voting window fans can also head over tofacebook /mtv, myspace /mtv, Flixster and IMDB for a special "MovieAwards" social module that will enable them to cast their votes, take polls,watch promo videos, get special news and tweets about the show and speciallinks to "Movie Awards" contests.Mark Burnett serves as Executive Producer for the "2009 MTV MOVIE AWARDS."Audrey Morrissey is Co-Executive Producer.Lee Rolontz is Executive Producerfor MTV, Garrett English is Executive in charge for MTV and Jane Mun serves asProducer. Robin Reinhardt-Locke is Celebrity Talent Executive, Amy Doyle andJoanna Bomberg are Music Talent Executives for MTV.Official sponsors of the "2009 MTV MOVIE AWARDS" include Coca-Cola(R), KiaMotors, Nikon, Orbit(R) gum, Taco Bell(R), T-Mobile USA, and Venus Orbit is aregistered trademark of the Wm Wrigley Jr. Company.About MTV:MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music,creativity and youth culture.For over 27 years, MTV has evolved, challengedthe norm, and detonated boundaries -- giving each new generation a creativeoutlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform andscreen.On-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cablenetwork for P12-24.Online, MTV averaged 8.5 million monthly uniquevisitors during the first quarter of 2009 -- up +6% from Q4/2008 and up +6%year-over-year. Total video streams for the first quarter of 2009 increased21% over the same time period last year. And MTV's successful sibling networksMTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s each deliver unprecedented customized content,super-serving music fans, college students and young American Latinos like noone else.