Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete met with United Nations military adviser Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye on Friday (January 4th) to discuss African countries' response to the ongoing conflict between March 23rd Movement (M23) and the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania's The Guardian reported.

Tanzania plans to send troops to the DRC as part of a UN peacekeeping mission to combat the rebels fighting to overthrow the Congolese government.

Kikwete briefed Gaye on these efforts, led by the Southern African Development Community and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). African leaders are committed to forming a special military unit for deployment to the DRC to help the government fend off the rebels, Kikwete said.

Gaye voiced the UN's commitment to working with regional countries in helping restore stability to the DRC. He will soon meet with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, current president of the ICGLR, the news agency reported.