Countries Financial Aid

As a thinning band of protesters brought parts of downtown Washington to a standstill, world financial officials Monday completed two turbulent days of meetings by approving a stepped-up campaign against AIDS and pledging to move forward with debt relief for the poorest countries.

As a thinning band of protesters brought parts of downtown Washington to a standstill, world financial officials Monday completed two turbulent days of meetings by approving a stepped-up campaign against AIDS and pledging to move forward with debt relief for the poorest countries.

Nobody would mistake Mauricio Pareja, dressed in a dark gray pinstriped suit, for one of the demonstrators swarming through the streets of Washington to protest the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In fact, Pareja, a board member of Ecuador's central bank, is a delegate to those meetings.

Nobody would mistake Mauricio Pareja, dressed in a dark gray pinstriped suit, for one of the demonstrators swarming through the streets of Washington to protest the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In fact, Pareja, a board member of Ecuador's central bank, is a delegate to those meetings.

Thousands of protesters swarmed into downtown Washington before dawn Sunday and engaged in tense and occasionally violent confrontations with riot-clad police in a daylong outpouring of anger against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. But activists did not achieve their goal of shutting down the meetings of the international lending institutions, which were heavily guarded by police.

President Arnoldo Aleman's feud with the official in charge of keeping his government honest started as a domestic dispute. But it became an international incident when the Nicaraguan leader struck a deal with the political opposition to overhaul the auditor's office. Now four Nordic nations have suspended $1.4 million in aid until they see the outcome of the reforms. "What's new is that we put action behind our words," said a Nordic representative.

My compliments to The Times for its "Final Curtain" section reporting on the dissolution of the Soviet Union (World Report, Dec. 31). It was interesting, if not aggravating, to see that of the countries giving financial aid, Japan pledged the least. Tightfisted Japan, the country sucking the most out of the world, as usual, is willing to give the least to help preserve the peace. One more reason, fellow Americans, to buy American. M. DONALD LAITY, San Clemente

The Communist Party used KGB couriers to carry about $200 million in state funds to Communists in the United States, France, Israel and other countries over the last three decades, a prosecutor said Monday. About 98 foreign parties and organizations in 80 countries received financial aid from the Soviet Union on orders from the party's Central Committee, said Yevgeny Lisov, Russia's first deputy prosecutor general.

This is the State Department's official alliance list. However, officials note that it does not include all countries that support the alliance in ways other than those listed. Including the United States, there are 29 countries that are part of the military force in the Gulf.

Jordan's King Hussein arrived in the Syrian capital Monday on a visit that reflects a dramatic improvement in relations between the two Arab neighbors and a possible realignment of power in a critical corner of the Middle East. Hussein, who last visited Syria in 1979, before bilateral relations soured, embraced Syrian President Hafez Assad at the airport as a 21-gun salute was fired.

Thousands of protesters swarmed into downtown Washington before dawn Sunday and engaged in tense and occasionally violent confrontations with riot-clad police in a daylong outpouring of anger against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. But activists did not achieve their goal of shutting down the meetings of the international lending institutions, which were heavily guarded by police.

President Arnoldo Aleman's feud with the official in charge of keeping his government honest started as a domestic dispute. But it became an international incident when the Nicaraguan leader struck a deal with the political opposition to overhaul the auditor's office. Now four Nordic nations have suspended $1.4 million in aid until they see the outcome of the reforms. "What's new is that we put action behind our words," said a Nordic representative.

Soldiers aren't the only foreign contribution in short supply for the U.S. effort in Iraq. So is money. U.S. officials are finding it hard to persuade allies to help underwrite the costs of policing and rebuilding the ravaged country, even as Congress steps up pressure on the administration to find a way to share the burden. After months of appeals from U.S. and U.N.