World

Doctors from neighboring towns converged on Hilla, 60 miles south of Baghdad, to treat survivors of the worst terrorist attack in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. A car bomb exploded there Monday, killing at least 125 people and wounding 130 others. The attack came as interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi conceded in a Wall Street Journal essay that Iraqi security forces will be unable to conquer terrorism "for some time to come" without the help of foreign troops.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese defied a ban on public protests and massed near parliament again Monday, ratcheting up the pressure on their pro-Syrian government to resign and demanding that Syria withdraw all its troops. Meanwhile, Syria also became the focus of more pressure as Israel began a diplomatic offensive to seek backing for its accusation that President Bashar Assad's regime shares responsibility for the terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv last Friday. But Assad told a Rome newspaper that a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon depended on a peace settlement with Israel.

Another victim of the bombing in Tel Aviv died from her wounds, bringing the number of fatalities to five as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon issued a statement saying that such attacks were certain to continue unless Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stopped using "persuasion" to try to control radical militants and took "active steps" against terrorism.

Rebels claimed further efforts at mediation with the government of Ivory Coast would be futile after militiamen loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo crossed a buffer zone and attacked their positions. Order was restored by UN peacekeepers, who said they handed over 68 captured militiamen to the rebels since they have no mandate to hold prisoners. The hostilities were the first since government planes bombed rebel towns in November.

By the thousands, illegal migrant workers from Indonesia boarded ships to leave neighboring Malaysia on the final day of an amnesty. Anyone staying behind - and as many as 200,000 were expected to - was to be subject immediately to a threatened crackdown consisting of floggings, fines, and jail terms, followed by deportation. But Malaysia, which depends heavily on foreign labor for its booming construction industry, has said those who obtain the necessary documents would be permitted to return.