Security officials from Africa's volatile Great Lakes region met in Rwanda on Monday to discuss possible joint operations to stamp out rebels in lawless eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

At their last meeting in April, the officials from Rwanda, Uganda, Congo and Burundi agreed the Congolese government had two months to crack down on a host of militia groups operating in the dense forests of its mineral-rich east.

"This meeting will examine progress made by DRC in carrying out these operations against negative forces on its territory," Rwanda's army spokesman Jill Rutaremara told Reuters.

"And then we will also look at the second scenario which is a possibility of carrying out limited joint military operations with the DRC while respecting its sovereignty."

Following elections last year aimed at drawing a line under a 1998-2003 war that killed some 4-million people, DRC President Joseph Kabila promised to bring peace to Congo's east.

At least 165 000 civilians have fled fighting in DRC's North Kivu province since February, when Tutsi-commanded army brigades launched operations against the largely Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) guerrillas.

Large parts of North Kivu are under the control of the FDLR. The rebel group is composed in part of former Interahamwe militia who fled to Congo after taking part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide which killed some 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Earlier this month, the DRC army said it was suspending Tutsi-led military operations there against the Rwandan Hutu rebels in an effort to avoid further ethnic tension.

"At the meeting, DRC will also tell us what alternative is available to deal with these negative forces if they are to halt their operations," Rutaremara said.

In June, a visiting delegation of UN Security Council ambassadors called on Kinshasa to work with Kigali to find a political solution to violence.

Uganda says at least three different Ugandan rebel groups are also based in eastern Congo, including leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army wanted by an international war crimes court.