How do I make it so SSI works.

I have a perl file in the cgi-bin folder. I wish to add the code:-

<!-- #include file="http://www.cerberus.com.au/easynews/db/headlines.txt" -->

to the perl file at:- http://www.cerberus.com.au/cgi-bin/today2.pl

I have added it as:-

print"<!-- #include file=\"http://www.cerberus.com.au/easynews/db/headlines.txt\" -->";

It does not work, which is not surprising as I don't have a clue about what I am doing.

I added an htaccess file to the cgi_bin folder with the text:-
Options +Includes

Can someone tell me what else is necessary to make the code work? Please bear in mind I have no idea about SSI.