Swiss Guard equipped with Wi-fi

By PETER POPHAM

ROME - The Swiss Guard, who with their floppy berets, stripy pant-suits and halberds make a picturesque show of protecting the Pope and the few hundred other residents of Vatican City, recently entered the modern world, courtesy of America's Motorola Corp.

The electronics giant has provided the approximately 100 guards with Wi-fi-enabled laptops and personal digital assistants, enabling them to prevent vehicles with unauthorised number plates getting into the grounds of the pocket city state.

The guards are participating in an open-ended trial for possible use of Wi-fi in other situations.

The new technology is one more weapon in an increasingly rich network of security systems deployed by the Vatican to protect Pope John Paul II, who has already survived one assassination attempt.

Surveillance cameras are now posted at all entrances to St Peter's Square and other public entrances to the Vatican, while pilgrims must pass through metal detectors before entering the basilica.

At Easter, overflights were banned as an extra precaution.

- INDEPENDENT