Pope Francis is an IS target: Iraqi ambassador to Vatican

Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, is an IS [also known as ISIL] target, Iraq’s ambassador to the Vatican Habib al-Sadr told the Italian newspaper of Messasaggero, warning that terrorists led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi have the pope in their crosshairs.

He said IS is like a cancerous tumor with crazy cells which are likely to spiral out of control and deal a blow beyond the borders of its so-called caliphate.

The Iraqi diplomat further said that ISIL strategy is to prompt media to hype up its acts of terror, adding the graphic images of IS beheadings that media put on display were designed to send ripples of panic throughout the world.

On the likelihood of an assassination attempt on Pope Francis, he said that our experts are monitoring their every move. We know how terrorists think and we believe that an attempt on the life of Pope is likely.

Habib al-Sadr went on to say that he has warned the officials in the Vatican and they know well that how menacing the IS threat could be.

The Holy See has backed efforts by the Iraqi government to fight ISIL.