Straw builds a bridge to France by way of Congo

The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, is to discuss extra aid for the two countries stricken by the eruption of the volcano in Congo, during a three-day visit to central Africa that begins today.

Mr Straw said yesterday that the disaster will be the top priority for his talks with the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

Foreign Office officials are considering whether Mr Straw should divert from his programme to visit the places devastated by the eruption: the town of Goma in Congo which has been engulfed by the lava and the area around the border with Rwanda, over which refugees have fled.

A Foreign Office source said: "He will only go if it is decided he will not be in the way."

The Department for International Development has given £2m in immediate aid and Oxfam has already sent a flight with bedding supplies and equipment for refugees.

The original aim of Mr Straw's visit, which is also scheduled to take in Uganda and Burundi, was to give impetus to attempts to bring a complete cessation to the Great Lakes conflict that has claimed 2m lives.

The foreign secretary is on a joint mission with the French foreign minister, Hubert Védrine, an unusual departure by the two former rival colonial powers. The two are to fly from Paris this morning.

Mr Védrine made a joint visit in 1999 with the then foreign secretary Robin Cook but that was to west Africa, which was relatively straightforward. This one is potentially more awkward.

The Rwanda leg could be fraught: Britain has a good rapport with the Rwanda government but the French are largely detested. France is accused of abetting the Hutu genocide against the Tutsis in 1994, in which 800,000 people died. Mr Védrine was a senior aide to President François Mitterrand at the time.

The Great Lakes conflict has seen the fragmentation of Congo and drawn in neighbouring countries. Although a peace agreement has been signed, fighting is continuing.

The British-French mission will press neighbouring countries to withdraw from Congo and urge demobilisation. A Foreign Office source said: "We should not overestimate what we can do but not underestimate it either."

The source said that, given the historic differences between Britain and France on the African continent, the joint visit was "symbolically important".

There are divided views within the British government over the visit. While some welcome it as an example of another step towards a common European foreign policy, others are suspicious of French intentions.

One official said: "France could be using Britain as a Trojan horse to get back into the area."

The official added that France had not apologised for its role in the Rwandan genocide and that it tended to try to show the present Rwandan government in a poor light.

The British-French rivalry on the African continent began in earnest in 1882 when the British occupied Egypt. The unseemly scramble for Africa that followed did irreparable damage to the continent.

The two adopted different approaches to Africa throughout much of the 20th century, with Britain agreeing to independence for the emerging states and France preferring to hang on for as long as possible with a policy of assimilation.