Vatican City - Plans for Pope John Paul to visit Iraq have run into serious stumbling blocks, and the controversial trip may not take place in early December, Vatican sources said yesterday.
The advance team that usually travels ahead to prepare the groundwork for papal visits has not left Rome although local church officials in Iraq said they had expected the Pope to visit during the first week of December. One source, citing "diplomatic problems", said that it still had not been possible to work out a programme for the trip, which the Vatican has not yet officially announced.
