CLAMPINO AIRPORT, Italy: Pope Benedict XVI flew out of Rome on Friday at the start of a three-day visit to Lebanon, a country riven by sectarian tensions as fighting rages in neighboring Syria.
The visit by the 85-year-old pontiff comes as the region is also engulfed in protests over an amateur U.S.-made movie mocking Islam, unrest that has killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other U.S. officials in Beghanzi.