KINSHASA After inviting two foreign armies back into Congo to fight armed groups, President Joseph Kabila must convince his people they will not stay too long and that civilians are not caught in the crossfire.

Kinshasa's politicians, newspapers and diplomats greeted the arrival of over 3,000 Rwandan soldiers in neighbouring eastern Congo, where they are meant to take part in operations to hunt Rwandan Hutu rebels, with astonishment, suspicion and concern.A Ugandan-led multinational strike on anti-Ugandan rebels based in another remote corner of Congo has led to over 600 civilian deaths in reprisal attacks since it was launched in mid-December.

Ugandan and Rwandan armies have entered Congo and backed Congolese rebel factions several times over the last 15 years, ostensibly to hunt their own rebels. Congo has accused them of also plundering gold, diamonds and timber.

The current operations highlight Kabila's weakness and failures to pacify the lawless, mineral-rich east, after winning 2006 polls meant to usher in an era of stability after years of war and chaos.

“Kabila's going out on a limb. There are a lot of political risks,” said Jason Stearns, an independent Congo analyst.

“In a worst-case scenario, in six months' time the (Rwandan Hutu) FDLR, (Congolese Tutsi) CNDP, and (Ugandan) Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) could all still be there, as well as the Rwandans and Ugandans,” he said.

The Ugandan-led attack on the LRA rebels in the far northeast was supposed to last a month but is not over yet.

Rebel leaders escaped an initial aerial bombardment, dispersed and have been accused of reprisal massacres.

The cooperation with Rwanda is a radical shift from the past, when the two countries traded accusations that each was supporting the other's rebels. It stems from diplomatic initiatives to end fighting last year between Congo's army and the CNDP.

Operations against the Rwandan Hutu FDLR are scheduled to last 10-15 days, but analysts warn this is unlikely to be long enough to hunt down the estimated 6,000 fighters.

Some of the Hutu force took part in the 1994 slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda and this has been used to justify numerous Tutsi-led military operations in Congo.

The Congolese army's own failures against armed groups in the east have forced Kabila to seek the help of the foreign armies, who have long criticised him for not tackling their rebels.

“Rwandan troops arrive in Kivu - Kinshasa trapped,” read a Wednesday headline in Kinshasa daily Le Potentiel.

By 2003, both Uganda and Rwanda had officially withdrawn their soldiers under intense international pressure, and relations with Kinshasa are improving, but many ordinary Congolese accuse their neighbours of continued meddling.

“My reaction is first of all astonishment,” Vital Kamerhe, speaker of the national assembly and a leading member of Kabila's political party, told UN-sponsored Radio Okapi.

“We are wondering what our population, which is only now getting over past Rwandan aggression, feels about this.”

Opposition politicians also slammed the two plans.

“We denounce the policy of the government which allows neighbouring countries to come and resolve their political problems on Congolese soil,” said Thomas Luhaka, executive secretary of the opposition Movement for the Liberation of Congo.

“We denounce the lack of transparency of our government. We want to know the content of this deal.”

The lack of information has led to civilians, from Kinshasa in the west to Goma in the east and Dungu, near the remote Sudanese border, to question how long the armies will stay.

“(Kabila) needs to say something so that he doesn't look like he's concealing the truth,” Stearns said.

Civilians have borne the brunt of most of Congo's violence, which has killed over five million people since 1998. Previous operations against the FDLR have resulted in massacres.

The UN, which has in the past backed Congo's army but has become increasingly critical of abuses and has been kept out of current plans, said over 3,000 Rwandans were in Congo.

“If this operation is a sign of improved relations (between Congo and Rwanda) then it could be a good thing. But no one has the capacity to control reprisals and there are serious risks of negative fallout,” warned one Western diplomat.—Reuters