Albania upped security on Saturday as it prepared to host Pope Francis amid warnings that Islamic State jihadists could be planning an attack on the Catholic leader in the mainly Muslim country.
Plainclothes police were out on the streets of the capital Tirana, with some 2,500 officers due to be deployed for the pope's visit on Sunday, his first to a European country.
"The alert level of police forces is at the highest level. A large number of police will monitor all activities" during the pontiff's stay, Albanian Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri told AFP.
He added that special forces were also mobilised throughout the country.
Iraq's ambassador to the Vatican had warned ahead of the visit that the 77-year-old pope could be in danger from the IS group after the Holy See voiced support for US air strikes targeting the jihadists in Iraq, in a rare exception to its policy of peaceful conflict resolution.
The Vatican has up to now shrugged off the warning, saying that security measures in Albania would remain unchanged for Francis, who regularly throws caution to the wind to mingle with the crowds.
Francis will use the same open-topped vehicle he uses in Saint Peter's Square at a mass in Tirana, it said.
The pope will travel a day after Italian media reported that security had been tightened in Saint Peter's Square after intelligence services intercepted a possible plan to attack the Vatican.
The report comes days after Iraqi ambassador Habib Al Sadr at the Vatican said in an interview with Italian media that "what has been declared by the self-declared Islamic State is clear. They want to kill the pope. The threats against the pope are credible."
And the Corriere della Sera daily cited a unidentified source in Tirana as saying: "The jihadists have always claimed that their final objective was Rome. But if Rome comes to Tirana, even for a few hours, that objective becomes even simpler."
- 29 checkpoints downtown -
But Tahiri assured that there was no "single indication that would allow us to say that the pope's life is threatened.
"However, the interior ministry has undertaken unprecedented security measures in order to guarantee public order and peace during the visit," the minister stressed.
In downtown Tirana, where most of the pope's activities were to take place, including at the Mother Theresa square where an open-air mass was to be held, police have set up 29 checkpoints.
Traffic was closed for vehicles and all those attending the mass would be thoroughly searched, an interior ministry spokesman said.
According to a police source who requested anonymity, snipers will be also placed on buildings surrounding the city centre.
On Saturday, the Vatican and Albanian flags were placed along 10-kilometre (six-mile) long road leading from Tirana's Mother Teresa airport, where the pope was to arrive, to the city centre.
In Tirana, municipal employees were busy on Saturday cleaning the streets and planting flowers along the pope's planned route.
Throughout the city, giant billboards have been put up showing the smiling pontiff with a raised arm and message: "I say to all the peoples: it's possible to work together."
For the visit, traders were offering souvenirs and the Albanian post has issued a stamp with the pope's image.
The pope's visit is aimed at showcasing peace between religions as the pontiff pays tribute to those who suffered under Communism and praises a political system under which religions unite.
About two-thirds of Albania's population of some three million are Muslim. They are followed by Catholics -- accounting for 15 percent of the population, and the Orthodox making up 11 percent, with the communities living peacefully.
Under the Communist regime leader Enver Hoxha in 1967 had declared Albania the first atheist country in the world.
Between 1945 and 1985, 111 priests, 10 seminarians and seven bishops died in detention or were executed while scores of churches and mosques were destroyed.
Albania upped security on Saturday as it prepared to host Pope Francis amid warnings that Islamic State jihadists could be planning an attack on the Catholic leader in the mainly Muslim country.
Plainclothes police were out on the streets of the capital Tirana, with some 2,500 officers due to be deployed for the pope’s visit on Sunday, his first to a European country.
“The alert level of police forces is at the highest level. A large number of police will monitor all activities” during the pontiff’s stay, Albanian Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri told AFP.
He added that special forces were also mobilised throughout the country.
Iraq’s ambassador to the Vatican had warned ahead of the visit that the 77-year-old pope could be in danger from the IS group after the Holy See voiced support for US air strikes targeting the jihadists in Iraq, in a rare exception to its policy of peaceful conflict resolution.
The Vatican has up to now shrugged off the warning, saying that security measures in Albania would remain unchanged for Francis, who regularly throws caution to the wind to mingle with the crowds.
Francis will use the same open-topped vehicle he uses in Saint Peter’s Square at a mass in Tirana, it said.
The pope will travel a day after Italian media reported that security had been tightened in Saint Peter’s Square after intelligence services intercepted a possible plan to attack the Vatican.
The report comes days after Iraqi ambassador Habib Al Sadr at the Vatican said in an interview with Italian media that “what has been declared by the self-declared Islamic State is clear. They want to kill the pope. The threats against the pope are credible.”
And the Corriere della Sera daily cited a unidentified source in Tirana as saying: “The jihadists have always claimed that their final objective was Rome. But if Rome comes to Tirana, even for a few hours, that objective becomes even simpler.”
– 29 checkpoints downtown –
But Tahiri assured that there was no “single indication that would allow us to say that the pope’s life is threatened.
“However, the interior ministry has undertaken unprecedented security measures in order to guarantee public order and peace during the visit,” the minister stressed.
In downtown Tirana, where most of the pope’s activities were to take place, including at the Mother Theresa square where an open-air mass was to be held, police have set up 29 checkpoints.
Traffic was closed for vehicles and all those attending the mass would be thoroughly searched, an interior ministry spokesman said.
According to a police source who requested anonymity, snipers will be also placed on buildings surrounding the city centre.
On Saturday, the Vatican and Albanian flags were placed along 10-kilometre (six-mile) long road leading from Tirana’s Mother Teresa airport, where the pope was to arrive, to the city centre.
In Tirana, municipal employees were busy on Saturday cleaning the streets and planting flowers along the pope’s planned route.
Throughout the city, giant billboards have been put up showing the smiling pontiff with a raised arm and message: “I say to all the peoples: it’s possible to work together.”
For the visit, traders were offering souvenirs and the Albanian post has issued a stamp with the pope’s image.
The pope’s visit is aimed at showcasing peace between religions as the pontiff pays tribute to those who suffered under Communism and praises a political system under which religions unite.
About two-thirds of Albania’s population of some three million are Muslim. They are followed by Catholics — accounting for 15 percent of the population, and the Orthodox making up 11 percent, with the communities living peacefully.
Under the Communist regime leader Enver Hoxha in 1967 had declared Albania the first atheist country in the world.
Between 1945 and 1985, 111 priests, 10 seminarians and seven bishops died in detention or were executed while scores of churches and mosques were destroyed.
