(LUXEMBOURG) - The French EU presidency warned Monday that "huge massacres" could once again take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the situation is "murderous and untenable."

"We must raise the alarm. The situation is becoming murderous and untenable again. Once more everything is in chaos," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"We fear that huge, frightening massacres could start again in the eastern area (of the country) and in Kivu," he told a press conference in Luxembourg after a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Renewed fighting in the eastern Nord-Kivu region has displaced more than a hundred thousand people and caused widespread misery, Kouchner said.

The French minister also accused the Congolese and Rwandan goverments of exacerbating the conflict.

Clashes broke out August 28 between army troops and rebel leader Laurent Nkunda's CNDP, violating a ceasefire reached under the Goma peace accord in January.

DRC officials claim Rwandan troops of aiding Nkunda's forces and accuse Kigali of planning to attack provincial capital Goma.

Rwandan officials deny the charges.

A five-year conflict pitting government forces, supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, against rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda, ended in 2003 after claiming more than three million lives.

Koucher said "everything is possible," when asked what the European Union's response to the current situation might be.

Asked whether this might include the deployment of a European force in the country, Kouchner left the question to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, sitting next to him at the post-meeting press conference.

"No decision will be taken on this matter in the coming days," Solana said.

He said he was in contact with DR Congo President Joseph Kabila "to see how we can help get a peaceful settlement to the situation."

African Union head Jean Ping said Sunday that his organisation would become more involved in restoring peace and stability to the conflict-torn country.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.