The resolution was drafted by the French delegation in response to UN warnings that recent fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo had forced a quarter of a million people to flee for their lives, sparking a new humanitarian catastrophe in the already war-ravaged region.

The requested increase in the size of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo, known by its French acronym MONUC, was based on a recommendation for a troop "surge" from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last month.

The draft resolution has the council approving "a temporary increase of MONUC's authorized military strength by up to 2,785 military personnel, and the strength of its formed police unit by up to 300 personnel."

The increase would bring the maximum permitted number of troops and police deployed under MONUC, already the biggest UN peacekeeping force in the world, to just over 20,000 to cover a country roughly the size of western Europe.

The French text, which Britain, the United States and Belgium helped prepare, may undergo revisions before it is put to a vote in the 15-nation council, diplomats said. South Africa has voiced concerns about plans to increase the number of peacekeepers in Congo without adjusting MONUC's mandate.