The Vatican on Wednesday
dismissed reports that Pope Francis had been the target of an
assassination attempt when he visited the Philippines last
month. Malaysian bomb-maker Zulkifli bin Hir was linked to a
plot to bomb the pope as he greeted crowds, but was killed in a
raid by Philippine police after it reportedly failed, the
reports had claimed.
Vatican Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said talk of a
plot to kill Francis was "unfounded" according to Manila
Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, who "has his good sources of
information".
The Catholic Church leader visited the country from January
15 to January 19, and according to the supposedly 'unverified'
reports allegedly received by the presidential palace in Manila,
there were plans to kill the pontiff during his visit.
Philippines President Benigno Aquino III's spokeswoman
Abigail Valte told a state-run radio station: "We were aware.
"We were able to speak to those in the security
establishments on that and I was told that they were aware of
that particular piece of unverified information that was passed
on".
A source in the Philippines army said the intelligence
indicated that a bomb plot was to be carried out by bin Hir, who
goes by the alias Marwan.
The alleged plot was supposedly foiled and the terrorist
was killed days later, according to the reports.
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