Papal Visit to Sarajevo Risky, U.N. Warns

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina —  U.N. officers warned Monday that Pope John Paul II’s planned visit to Sarajevo posed grave security risks.

“The Pope’s life will be at risk and the lives of those around him will be at risk as well,” said a U.N. official who asked not to be named.

The 74-year-old pontiff is due to travel to the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday, but the Vatican has indicated the trip still may be canceled because of security concerns.

Sarajevo Archbishop Vinko Puljic told reporters he still hoped the Pope would come to the battered city.

“As for my heart, I’m 100% convinced he will come. As for my head, a little bit less,” he said.

Vatican officials could wait until the eve of the visit before making a final announcement, informed sources said.

The Pope will be within sniper range in a city surrounded by Bosnian Serb besiegers and defended by the mostly Muslim government army.

Serbs see the Vatican as biased in favor of their Muslim and Roman Catholic Croat foes and recall the church’s support for Croatia’s Nazi-allied regime in World War II.

Bosnian Serbs have refused to guarantee the Pope’s safety. Their leader, Radovan Karadzic, told the Vatican he was worried Muslims might launch an attack and blame Serbs.