Port Moresby, Monday
A SECURITY alert surrounding the Pope was eased today as he arrived in
Papua New Guinea to be greeted by a crowd of 30,000 at the airport.
Police in the South Pacific country were placed on alert two hours
before the Pope's arrival when they discovered that two Iranian men had
checked out of their hotel and could not be found.
Security men were worried that the two might be connected to an
alleged assassination plot uncovered in Manila last week at the start of
the Pope's four-nation tour.
As the Pope addressed the welcoming crowd at Jacksons International
Airport in the capital, Port Moresby, security officials were deciding
whether he should travel in a covered car instead of the open-air
Popemobile.
A secret service officer at the airport said: ''We are treating this
very, very seriously.''
Despite the alert the Pope travelled in the open vehicle along the
nine miles of pot-holed road into the city centre to celebrate an
evening Mass.
The two Iranians flew in from Manila in December, but security
officials in Papua New Guinea were not told of their presence until
today.
''It was just a routine computer scan in Papua New Guinea and these
two gentlemen's names appeared,'' said police Chief Superintendent Denis
Samin. ''You don't get many Iranians here.
''Immigration alerted us because of the problems in Manila. There was
speculation that they may have been connected to the four in Manila, but
we don't think so at this stage.''
At least two people were arrested over an alleged Muslim extremist
plot to kill the Pope in the Philippines and police there are still
looking for another 20 suspects.
Chief Superintendent Samin said Papua police were asking the two
Iranians to contact police. ''They are somewhere in the country,'' he
said.
''The two men should come forward and disclose their whereabouts to
police or immigration officials to clear themselves of any further
speculation.''
Police said they would tighten security for the remainder of the
three-day Papal tour.
In his airport speech, the Pope pleaded for peace on the mainly Roman
Catholic Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville, where rebels are
fighting a six-year independence campaign that has led to heavy loss of
life.
The Pope told the crowd that it was a ''joy to return to this
beautiful country''. He last visited in 1984.--Reuter.
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