Britain is joining a growing international diplomatic effort to end the interminable conflict in eastern Congo with the foreign secretary, David Miliband, expected to fly to Goma tomorrow amid increasing questions about the effectiveness of the United Nations peacekeeping mission there.

Miliband is travelling with his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, to the beleaguered east Congolese town as well as Congo's capital, Kinshasa, and neighbouring Rwanda. They are following in the footsteps