Pope Meets With Annan; Blair to Visit Next

VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II heard a report from his special envoy to Baghdad on Tuesday and conferred with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on efforts to avert war, Vatican officials said. On Saturday, the pontiff will receive British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a private audience.

John Paul and Blair do not see eye to eye on the issue of a potential U.S.-led attack on Iraq. This month, the pontiff urged the world not to resign itself to war, saying a conflict could still be averted.

Blair’s meeting with the pope will follow the British leader’s talks in Rome on Friday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Both prime ministers have been staunch supporters of the United States’ tough stance on Iraq.

During “cordial and deep” talks lasting 30 minutes Tuesday, John Paul and Annan underlined the “essential role of the United Nations at the present hour,” Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, the pope’s envoy, reported to John Paul on his Saturday meeting with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.

Etchegaray, a Frenchman, has indicated that he found Hussein receptive to the pope’s appeal to cooperate fully with the United Nations. “I return to Rome with stronger hope than ever,” the cardinal said Monday.