Pope at risk of assassination by ISIS during forthcoming visits to Albania and Turkey following 'credible threats', claims Iraq ambassador

    Pontiff due to visit Albania, which is majority Sunni Muslim, this Sunday
    Iraq's ambassador to Holy See warned nowhere is safe - including Britain
    'I think they could try to hit him during his travels or even in Rome', he said
    But Vatican has insisted Francis will not use bulletproof Popemobile
    Spokesman said security officials are 'calm' about one-day weekend visit

By Dan Bloom for MailOnline

Published: 19:12 GMT, 16 September 2014

ISIS has made 'credible threats' to kill Pope Francis, a top Iraqi diplomat has warned just days before the Pontiff visits the mainly Muslim nation of Albania.

Habeeb Al Sadr issued the stark warning today after Vatican officials insisted there was no threat to his safety - and said he will not ride in the bulletproof 'Popemobile' of his predecessor Benedict XVI.

Mr Al Sadr, Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, admitted he knew of no 'specific facts' or 'operational projects' but said: 'Just put two and two together... They want to kill the Pope.'

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Warning: The Pope will use the open-top car (pictured) from which he greets the faithful in St Peter's Square when he visits Albania on Sunday, despite Iraq's ambassador saying his life is in danger from ISIS extremists
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Warning: The Pope will use the open-top car (pictured) from which he greets the faithful in St Peter's Square when he visits Albania on Sunday, despite Iraq's ambassador saying his life is in danger from ISIS extremists
Habeeb Al Sadr, said: 'Threats against the Pope are credible. Public statements and crimes against Christianity by Isis are a fact. Just put two and two together.' But the Pope calls his bulletproof glass vehicle a 'sardine can'
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Habeeb Al Sadr, said: 'Threats against the Pope are credible. Public statements and crimes against Christianity by Isis are a fact. Just put two and two together.' But the Pope calls his bulletproof glass vehicle a 'sardine can'
Beloved: The Pope pictured at a Mass to celebrate several weddings at St Peter's Basilica on Sunday
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Beloved: The Pope pictured at a Mass to celebrate several weddings at St Peter's Basilica on Sunday

The ambassador said the spread of extremists across the world meant Pope Francis is at risk anywhere - in Muslim countries, on trips to Britain and the U.S. and even in Rome.

He told the Italian newspaper La Nazione: 'Threats against the Pope are credible. Public statements and crimes against Christianity by Isis are a fact. Just put two and two together.


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'Let me be clear, I am not aware of specific facts or operational projects. But what has been said by the self-declared "Islamic state" terrorists is clear. They want to kill the Pope.

'I think they could try to hit him during his travels or even in Rome, because there are members of ISIS who are not Arabs but also Canadians, Americans, French, British and Italian.

'This gang of criminals does not merely threaten. In Iraq they have violated or destroyed some of the holiest sites of Shia Islam. They have hit places of worship in the Yazidi religion and Christianity. They forced 150,00 Christians to flee Mosul.'
'Sardine can': An armoured Popemobile was introduced after the 1981 assassination attempt on John Paul II (pictured in Nigeria) but Pope Francis has said he dislikes the vehicle and would prefer not to use it
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'Sardine can': An armoured Popemobile was introduced after the 1981 assassination attempt on John Paul II (pictured in Nigeria) but Pope Francis has said he dislikes the vehicle and would prefer not to use it
Outdated: Pope Benedict XVI waves from the armoured vehicle in 2006 on a visit to Munich, Germany. The Iraqi ambassador warned the current Pontiff is at risk everywhere - including in Britain and the U.S. or even Rome
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Outdated: Pope Benedict XVI waves from the armoured vehicle in 2006 on a visit to Munich, Germany. The Iraqi ambassador warned the current Pontiff is at risk everywhere - including in Britain and the U.S. or even Rome

The ambassador said the ethos of the terrorists was 'convert or be killed' and described their murderous spread through Iraq as a 'genocide'.

But he added Christians could not be 'prisoners of fear' and called on the Pope to send 'a message of hope to the Christians of the Middle East and around the world'.

He added: 'With his wisdom and his courage could make this visit a bridge between our religions, a message of peace in the name of Abraham.'
I think they could try to hit him during his travels or even in Rome, because there are members of ISIS who are not Arabs but also Canadians, Americans, French, British and Italian

Iraq had among the first Christians in the world, in the form of Assyrians who have faced centuries of persecution since.

Up to a million Christians are thought to have fled the country since British and U.S. troops invaded in 2003, with the violence of Islamic State militants triggering a new exodus.

The terrorists follow an extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam, declaring Shia Muslims and Sunnis who refused to kill as sworn enemies.

Pope Francis will make a brief 11-hour visit to Albania, more than half of whose citizens are Sunni Muslims, this Sunday to mark the rebirth of religion after Communism fell in the early 1990s.

He will celebrate Mass in a square named for Albania's most famous Catholic, Mother Teresa, in a bid to show how Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims now live in harmony in the country where Catholics were once executed and sent to work camps.

He is also due to visit Turkey at the end of November.

Italian newspapers have claimed security sources fear violent jihadis previously in Iraq and Syria could return to their home countries and carry out an attack.
UN chief urges nations to act decisively on Islamic State
Marauders: Self-styled Islamic State terrorists have swept through Iraq and Syria committing mass murder
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Marauders: Self-styled Islamic State terrorists have swept through Iraq and Syria committing mass murder
Isolated: The militants have declared Christians, Yazidi people and even other Sunni Muslims as their enemies


Isolated: The militants have declared Christians, Yazidi people and even other Sunni Muslims as their enemies

But the Vatican insisted security officials were 'calm' about the visit this Sunday.

Spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi said the Pope will greet the crowds from the same open-top white car he uses in St Peter's Square.

It makes a striking change from the moving bulletproof glass booth which entered regular use after the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981.

While his predecessor Benedict XVI regularly appeared behind the glass, the Argentinian Pontiff ditched the 'sardine can' vehicle in June after saying it kept him too far from the faithful.

Mr Lombardi said officials were concerned about ISIS, but added: 'There are no specific threats or risks that would change the pope's behaviour or the way the trip is organised.'
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