World Scene

SYRIA

Powell seeks help in stabilizing Iraq

DAMASCUS — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has asked Syria for help in stabilizing Iraq, the official news agency reported yesterday.

In a letter to President Bashar Assad on the occasion of Syria’s independence day tomorrow, Mr. Powell asked the country to assist with the “pacification of the situation in Iraq,” the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

The report comes a day after Washington acknowledged agreeing to a similar proposal to Iran, another Iraqi neighbor.

Earlier yesterday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers, warned that foreign fighters still were infiltrating Iraq from Syria and Iran.

“With the very challenge that the Iraqi people have in building a better Iraq, the last thing you need is influence from neighboring countries trying to promote or protect their own self-interests,” Gen. Myers told reporters in Baghdad.

TURKEY

Pope apologizes to Orthodox church

ISTANBUL — In an ecumenical breakthrough, the head of Eastern Orthodoxy in Istanbul formally accepted Pope John Paul II’s apology for the sacking of the city 800 years ago.

Constantinople, as it was called, was the wealthiest city in Christendom. It never recovered from this event, which weakened the Greek Empire, a bulwark that had protected Europe for centuries against Muslim incursions.

“The spirit of reconciliation is stronger than hatred,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople said during a liturgy attended by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon.

Two years ago, John Paul had asked for God’s forgiveness for the “sins of action and omission” Catholics had committed against the Orthodox, including the destruction of Constantinople.

CYPRUS

U.S. pledges aid for unity plan

BRUSSELS — The United States pledged $400 million yesterday to support a U.N. plan for reunifying Cyprus, but stressed that no money would come unless voters on the divided island approve the settlement in a referendum next week.

Andrew Natsios, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, made the pledge at the opening of a meeting convened to assess the total needs for Cyprus, which were estimated at more than $1.7 billion over five years, primarily for housing. The European Union was expected to announce plans for about $385 million in aid.

SPAIN

Incoming leader backs gay ’marriage’

MADRID — Spain will legalize homosexual “marriages” and grant equal rights to same-sex couples, incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said yesterday.

The move is likely to stir debate in one of Europe’s most heavily Catholic countries as the Vatican condemns same-sex unions. Homosexuality was banned under Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

Spain’s Catholic bishops have spoken out against the adoption of children by homosexual couples.

BANGLADESH

55 dead as storm rips through villages

DHAKA — Ferocious winds tore through parts of northern Bangladesh, flattening villages, uprooting trees and killing at least 55 persons, police said yesterday.

Thousands of people were injured in the Wednesday night storm, and officials said the death toll could rise as many people were fighting for their lives in hospitals. Hundreds of people were injured by flying debris, police said.