VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II will receive Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the United Nations, in a private audience on April 7.

    For Annan-- who is in Rome for meetings on world hunger and the problems created by drought in the Horn of Africa-- this will be the fourth direct meeting with the Pope. He has been received at the Vatican in April 1997 (for an introductory meeting after assuming his UN post), June 1998 (to discuss the International Criminal Court), and June 1999 (to discuss the Balkan war).

    Pope John Paul II met yesterday with President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen in a private audience.

    The Yemeni leader arrived at the Vatican for the first time following the establishment of formal relations between his country and the Holy See, which took place in October 1998. Abdullah Saleh paid homage to the Pope for his role in bringing an end to the Cold War-- a conflict which exacted a heavy price from the people of Yemen, since their country was divided into two opposing states, one siding with the Soviet bloc and the other the United States.

    Yemen today has a population of about 15 million people, of whom only 3,000 are Catholics. Most of these Catholics are foreign workers, including many from southeast Asia.