Tight security over pope visit

Thousands of security forces are being readied ahead of the pope's arrival

VATICAN CITY -- More than 2,000 soldiers will be in place to protect Pope John Paul II when he visits the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan on Saturday.

Kazakh Foreign Minister Bulat Iskakov told The Associated Press news agency that 2,400 Interior Ministry police and troops would guard the capital Astana during the pope's visit.

A spokesman for the Vatican said the pontiff insisted on making the trip despite being a target in the past for Islamic militants.

"There wasn't a debate on whether the pope should go, although the security issue was raised," Joaquin Navarro-Valls told AP. "The decision was left to John Paul."

Iskakov told Interfax news agency: "The security measures will be unprecedented in connection with the recent terrorist attacks in the United States."

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Six Vatican security men will travel with the pope aboard his flight from Rome. On arrival they will link up with a small security team already sent to Kazakhstan direct from the Vatican.

The main security measures are customarily left to the local government.

The pontiff is scheduled to spend four days in Kazakhstan before making a two-day visit to the neighbouring former Soviet republic of Armenia to promote Christian-Muslim dialogue.

Kazakhstan borders three other former Soviet republics -- Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- all of whom have sporadically fought invasions by Islamic radicals since 1999.

Leaders in the region accuse the neighbouring country of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia of supporting Islamic radicals who have stepped up activities in Central Asia.

Of the 15 million Kazak population, about 8 million are Muslim and 6 million are Orthodox Christians. The Catholic community numbers an estimated 360,000.

The Vatican has not hesitated to drop a trip for security reasons in the past. Trips to Northern Ireland in 1981 and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1994 were cancelled because security could not be ensured.

The threat from Islamic militants was raised during an Asian tour six years ago.

Philippine police say that Ramzi Yousef, convicted for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York, had planned to kill the pope during his visit to the Pacific islands in 1995, said AP.

Yousef was arrested in Pakistan shortly after fleeing from the capital Manila when police uncovered the alleged plot.