A plot to assassinate Pope Francis during a trip to Iraq was halted after a tip-off from British intelligence, according to his forthcoming autobiography.
The pope writes that after landing in Baghdad in March 2021, he was informed that an event where he was scheduled to appear was the target of two suicide bombers.
Both attackers were then intercepted and killed, according to excerpts from the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The visit, which spanned three days during the coronavirus pandemic, was the first by a pope to Iraq and was the subject of intense security measures.
The years before had seen increased sectarian violence in Iraq with fighting between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and the persecution of religious minorities.
The country’s Christian community had shrunk dramatically as it was particularly targeted by the Islamic State group and other Sunni extremists.
In excerpts from his autobiography, the pope says that “almost everyone advised me against the visit,” but he felt he “had to do it.”
He says the plot was uncovered by British intelligence, which alerted the Iraqi police, who in turn informed his security service as soon as he landed.
“A woman loaded with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was on her way to Mosul to blow herself up during the Pope’s visit,” he says.
“And with the same intention a transporter had also set off at great speed.”
The pope added that the next day he asked a security official what happened to the would-be attackers.
“The (officer) replied laconically: ‘They are no more’. The Iraqi police had intercepted them and blown them up,” he wrote.
The book, titled “Hope,” is scheduled to be released on January 14th.
According to Reuters news agency, the Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
