Associated Press
Thursday, May 23, 2002; Page A21

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22 -- Stooped, slow and unsteady, Pope John Paul II began a visit to this Muslim nation today, determined to pursue peace "as long as I have breath" but reading just a few lines of his speeches and staying seated most of the time.

The five-day trip to Azerbaijan and Bulgaria was the start of a trying travel period for John Paul, who turned 82 on Saturday and appears increasingly frail.

"It is what you see," said the pope's spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, when asked about John Paul's health on the flight from Rome. The pope's speech is slurred and his hands tremble -- symptoms of Parkinson's disease -- and he walks with difficulty because of knee and hip ailments.

The pope's agenda in this former Soviet republic included a condemnation of fundamentalism, calls for religious tolerance and an appeal that violence must never be carried out in the name of religion, themes that have become frequent since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

At the presidential palace, the pope spoke in heavily slurred, barely audible Russian before turning over most of his speech to a priest to read, including a passage underlining his intention to continue his papacy, now in its 24th year.

"I have come to Azerbaijan as an ambassador of peace. As long as I have breath within me I shall cry out: 'Peace, in the name of God,' " the passage said.

Navarro-Valls called it a "reconfirmation" of John Paul's recent affirmations that he is staying on the job.

For the first time in papal travel, John Paul used a mobile lift to board his Alitalia plane in Rome and again when he arrived in Baku.

With only 120 Roman Catholics in a nation of 7.5 million people, according to Vatican statistics, Azerbaijan has the smallest Catholic community of any country the pope has visited.

"He's a friend of Muslims, our God is the same," said Nigar Garulla, a music school teacher who came to see John Paul at the presidential palace.