IRAQ: Pope says escaped two assassination attempts

Pope Francis escaped two attempts on his life during his historic trip to Iraq in March 2021, according to excerpts from his forthcoming autobiography published Tuesday by Italian media.

The pontiff’s Vatican security detail received an urgent warning from the British secret services, Francis wrote.

“A woman packed with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was heading towards Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit,” he wrote in “Hope”, which goes on sale in over 80 countries in January.

“And a van had also set off at great speed with the same intention,” he added, according to excerpts from the book published by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera daily.

The two attackers were intercepted and killed by the Iraqi police.

Francis, who turned 88 on Tuesday, wrote that “almost everyone advised me against” the trip to Iraq “but I wanted to get to the bottom of things. I felt I had to do it”.