Around the World New Ecuador leader denies military sway QUITO, Ecuador - Ecuador's new president declared yesterday that his government is not under the sway of military officers who toppled his predecessor and put him in charge of this troubled Andean nation. Gustavo Noboa, who was Ecuador's vice president until President Jamil Mahuad was removed last week, said on television yesterday that he was not beholden to the military generals who put him in power. "Absolutely not," he said. "I am here because I am fulfilling a duty that I will carry out well." Noboa took office Saturday after Mahuad was forced out in a step the military said was taken to avoid "a social explosion" after hundreds of Indians and young military officers stormed the Congress building and declared a new government. Some military experts and the former defense minister say the generals who handed Noboa the presidency did so under pressure from Washington and more than 20 regional commanders who rejected the overthrow of civilian rule. Armed forces chief Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who briefly took a place in the junta before turning power over to Noboa, said he agreed to join the coup as a stall tactic until democratic order could be restored. He resigned his post and Gen. Telmo Sandoval took over as military commander. Jose Gallardo, who had served as Mahuad's defense minister until a week before the coup, said Mendoza and Sandoval knew of the plans by junior officers to support the Indian protests and tried to take advantage of the situation to seize power. Gallardo, a retired army general, said the first thing that Noboa should do is replace Sandoval, whom he described as politically ambitious ''and not to be trusted.'' The new government must still confront Ecuador's worst economic crisis in decades. Inflation topped 60 percent last year, the highest in Latin America, and the economy contracted 7.5 percent. Only one in three in the labor force has a full-time job and 7 million of Ecuador's 12 million people are trapped in poverty. Another challenge will be combating rampant corruption and restoring trust in politicians, many of whom seek public office for personal gain and have little interest in improving the lives of the poor. ''I implore the nation's political class, please, for the first time in many years, let us move forward together,'' Noboa said. ''The country deserves it.'' English Church may approve remarriages LONDON - The Church of England, established by the much-wedded King Henry VIII, took a step yesterday toward approving remarriage for divorcees - an issue that may be of keen interest to Britain's next king. Recommendations published by a group of bishops, if adopted by the church's governing General Synod in 2002, could make it easier for Prince Charles to contemplate marriage to his longtime love, Camilla Parker Bowles. Originally on page 2A in the 1-26-2000 issue of the Daily.