UN Secretary General Kofi Annan asked Maurice Baril to join a special envoy to establish and train a Congolese army.
It isn't yet known when Baril will leave or how long he'll stay.
"We should press ahead on the political front with the formation of the transitional government," Annan said Tuesday.
Retired Gen. Maurice Baril
He said the formation of a professional army is one of the things holding up the creation of a new government and "we hope we'll be able to give them assistance in resolving that problem."
Ethnic fighting has claimed the lives of more than 500 civilians in the former Belgian colony in the past two weeks alone.
About 50,000 have died since 1999.
- FROM MAY 30, 2003: Canada to send troops to Congo peace mission
The European Union announced Tuesday that it is ready to back a peacekeeping force of 1,400 soldiers scheduled to go to the DRC sometime this month.
The mostly French force will get help from several countries, including Canada.
They'll take over from about 750 UN peacekeepers now in the country.
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