UNITED NATIONS: The top UN envoy in Congo said Thursday President Joseph Kabila assured him his approval of a joint UN-Congolese military operation against a rebel group that failed to surrender by a Jan. 2 deadline is “imminent.”

Congo has been facing deadly protests over a proposed law that the opposition fears will prolong Kabila’s time in power, raising concerns that his approval for action against the rebels will be delayed.

Martin Kobler said Kabila will sign the document required to authorize the operation against rebels known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda shortly and that the operation “will start very soon.”

The UN peacekeeping force in eastern Congo could move alone against the rebels, but Kobler said the force cannot hold any gains alone.

Kobler spoke to reporters after briefing the UN Security Council on his weekend meeting with Kabila.