In the World

MUNICH - John Demjanjuk moved one step closer to another trial after German prosecutors said yesterday that doctors had deemed the 89-year-old fit to go to court on charges of being accessory to murder at the Sobibor Nazi death camp.

A Dutch group representing members of victims' families who hope to serve as co-plaintiffs in the trial welcomed the decision to try the retired auto worker, who was recently deported from his suburban Ohio home. They expressed hope in a statement that "the truth is found and justice is done."

Munich prosecutors accuse Demjanjuk of being a guard at the death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. They allege that he was an accessory to murder in 29,000 cases and said they expect formal charges this month.

But John Demjanjuk Jr. vowed to "vigorously dispute" the doctors' decision, saying they have given his father only 16 months to live, due to his incurable leukemic bone marrow disease. Prosecutors said Demjanjuk's time in court must not exceed two 90-minute sessions daily. - AP

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon could leave Myanmar empty-handed after apparently failing to win any concessions yesterday from the country's top military ruler or to gain permission to visit opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in jail.

Ban talked for two hours with reclusive Senior Gen. Than Shwe in an ornate reception hall - complete with an indoor waterfall - in Naypyitaw, the junta's remote, newly built capital. The U.N. chief will press again today in another private meeting, a U.N. spokeswoman said.

It was a rocky start to what the U.N. chief predicted would be "a very tough mission" to win freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi, 64, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been detained by the junta for nearly 14 of the last 20 years and is now on trial charged with violating her house arrest. - AP

DAMASCUS, Syria - President Bashar al-Assad praised President Obama's outreach for dialogue and invited him to visit Damascus in remarks released yesterday, just days after the United States said it plans to return its ambassador to Syria after a four-year absence.

Assad's comments came in a telegram he sent to Obama for the July Fourth holiday and in an interview he gave to Britain's Sky News. The comments also come a month after Obama outlined in a speech in Egypt his determination to broker peace among Israel and its Arab neighbors and improve U.S. relations in the region.

"The values that were adopted by President Obama during his election campaign and after he was elected president are values that the world needs today," Assad said in the telegram that was carried by state-run news agency SANA. In June, U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell visited Damascus and met Assad in the highest-level visit by a U.S. official in more than four years. - AP

North Korea fired two missiles off its eastern coast today, a South Korean official said. Firing ballistic missiles on the U.S. July Fourth holiday would be a snub to Washington, which has been trying to muster international support for tough enforcement of the U.N. resolution banning nuclear or ballistic missile tests.

Nigeria, Algeria, and Niger have signed an agreement to create a $10 billion pipeline that would ship gas across the Saharan desert to Europe, Nigeria's state oil company said yesterday. The plan comes as Europe, which currently depends on Russia for much of its needs, seeks new sources of gas imports.