Portugal Colonial - Cameroonians welcome pope on second leg of African tour

After two days in Algeria marred by two suicide attacks and a spat with US President Donald Trump, the pontiff's plane landed in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde shortly before 3:00 pm local time (1400 GMT), an AFP journalist travelling on the papal plane said.

The US-born pope is later due to meet President Paul Biya, who has ruled the mainly French-speaking country since 1982.

Thousands of people, some of them playing music and dancing, gathered in the sunshine outside the airport to welcome his arrival.

"We hope that as soon as he sets foot on Cameroonian soil, the war will stop," Benedicte Belinka, dressed in a tunic bearing the pope's image, told AFP.

In the central African country where more than a third of the around 30 million people are Catholic, the Church plays a key mediation role and runs a large network of hospitals, schools and charities.

Posters, banners and flags festooned the city in honour of the pope's visit, the fourth by a pope and the first since Pope Benedict XVI came in 2009.

Leo's meeting with 93-year-old Biya, the world's oldest head of state, has divided Catholics in the central African country.

Clergy members have voiced fears that it will help Biya to burnish his image, six months after violently suppressed protests against his disputed re-election to an eighth term.

The 70-year-old pope will later visit a Catholic orphanage and hold a private meeting with Cameroonian bishops.

- Separatist conflict -

Under high security, he will head on Thursday to a conflict zone where English-speaking separatists are fighting the army.

The violence has seen civilians become the target of killings and kidnappings.

Earlier this week, separatist groups announced a three-day truce starting on Wednesday to allow the highly symbolic visit in the western anglophone region, where nearly a fifth of the population lives.

The pope will give a speech and celebrate mass in the main city of Bamenda, at the centre of the conflict that erupted after demonstrations in 2016 were put down by the authorities.

The crackdown led to a full-blown rift between the army and English-speaking separatists that has yet to be resolved.

The violence had caused more than 6,000 deaths by 2024, according to rights groups.

"As the pope puts his feet on the soil of Bamenda, we should have peace. All the killing, the kidnapping should stop," Giovanni Mbuna, 36, who was abducted by separatists in 2023, told AFP.

- 'Blessed are the peacemakers' -

Archbishop of Bamenda Andrew Nkea has voiced hopes the visit will help bring peace to the region.

"The pope's visit will soften the hearts of the extremists so that we can find common ground... and reach a peaceful solution," Nkea said.

On Friday, Leo holds mass for hundreds of thousands in a stadium in the economic capital Douala.

He leaves Cameroon for Angola on Saturday.

In Algeria, the first visit by a pope to the north African country, Leo visited the birthplace of Christian theologian Saint Augustine and celebrated mass at a basilica that draws 18,000 pilgrims each year, including Muslims and Jews.

He urged Algeria's Christians to "bear witness to the Gospel through simple gestures, genuine relationships and a dialogue lived out day by day".

His stay was marred by twin suicide attacks in the city of Blida, southwest of the capital Algiers, on Monday.

Authorities have yet to comment but an informed source confirmed the bombings, which were not presumed related to the pontiff's presence in the mainly Muslim country.

No deaths have been confirmed, other than those of the bombers.

Leo's first international tour initially risked being overshadowed by Trump's remarks that he was "not a big fan" of the pope after the American pontiff called for peace in the Middle East.

Leo brushed the jibes aside, telling reporters on the papal plane as he headed to Algiers on Monday: "The Gospel says... blessed are the peacemakers."

"I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel," he continued.

burs-gil-kjm/sbk

A.Santos--PC