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UNITED NATIONS - Half a year after six nations and three rebel groups signed a cease-fire on Congo, the U.N. Security Council yesterday authorized a 5,500-strong observer force to monitor its implementation and lay the groundwork for possible deployment of a peacekeeping force.

The former combatants are already pressing for the United Nations to send peacekeepers, but the Security Council first wants the opposing sides to honor the cease-fire.

The 15-member council unanimously agreed to the U.S.-drafted resolution to send 500 military observers, supported by 5,037 security troops and logistics personnel.

The group will verify that all parties are observing last summer's cease-fire aimed at ending a 1 1/2-year war in Congo that has destabilized central Africa.

U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke has said the United States will not provide troops but may provide logistical support.

Many council members recognize that sending such a small mission to a country a quarter the size of the United States with few roads and poor communications may not be militarily effective but can be politically important.

Pope visits Egypt, denounces violence

CAIRO, Egypt - Denouncing violence in the name of religion as ''an offense against God,'' Pope John Paul II called for tolerance yesterday as he began a visit to Egypt, where clashes between Muslims and Christians recently left 23 people dead.

In beginning his pilgrimage to retrace some of the epic passages from the Bible, John Paul became the first Roman Catholic pope to visit predominantly Islamic Egypt.