Strict security measures in place for 'historic' pope trip to Kurdistan: PM Barzani

“We are doing everything we possibly can to make sure his visit is going to be safe, so we are taking all the precautionary measures to provide maximum security for his Holiness’s visit to our Region,” said Prime Minister Barzani on Saturday.
Workers finalise preparations at Franso Hariri Stadium, named after the Assyrian Christian politician of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), in Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Feb. 27, 2021. (Photo: Safin Hamed / AFP)
Workers finalise preparations at Franso Hariri Stadium, named after the Assyrian Christian politician of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), in Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Feb. 27, 2021. (Photo: Safin Hamed / AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will provide “maximum security” measures for Pope Francis’s visit to the region’s capital Erbil, planned for March 7, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in an interview with France 24 on Saturday.

“We are doing everything we possibly can to make sure his visit is going to be safe, so we are taking all the precautionary measures to provide maximum security for his Holiness’s visit to our Region,” said Prime Minister Barzani in the interview with France 24 on Saturday.

The Vatican announced that Pope Francis will participate in a series of events and meet top level officials during his visit to Iraq early next month.

In the Kurdish capital, along with meetings with the Region’s top officials, the pontiff is expected hold a Mass in the city’s Franso Hariri International Stadium. According to one event organizer, until Jan. 21, over 4,500 people registered their names to attend the gathering.

The Prime Minister said he believes that Pope Francis’s visit to the Kurdistan Region and Iraq will “shed light on the efforts that KRG has [undertaken] over the years for tolerance and acceptance of religious groups and minorities that live in Kurdistan for many, many years.”

Barzani recalled his meeting with the pope that took place in Feb. 2019 in Vatican, where the two discussed the importance of religious tolerance and situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in the Region.

“We talked about the importance of tolerance and coexistence in Kurdistan [and] we also talked about the social and economic burden of IDPs and refugees that reside in Kurdistan for many years now,” premier Barzani told the French channel.

The Kurdish leader hoped that the papal visit would “bring much more international attention to what is going on in this region and we are also looking forward to much more support from the international community to help us with promoting this ideas and principles of religious freedom and freedom of worship.”

Editing by Khrush Najari