(06/06/2007) A man tried to jump into the Pope Benedict XVI’s popemobile today, but was quickly overpowered by bodyguards and hauled to the ground.

The incident, which immediately recalled the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981, occurred at the beginning of the Pope's weekly general audience in St Peter's Square in the Vatican. Pope Benedict did not seem to notice the man and continued his audience as usual.

A Vatican official said the man, who was wearing a pink t-shirt, black shorts, a cap and sunglasses, managed to reach the back of the Pope's open-topped vehicle before the pontiff's team of eight guards wrestled him to the ground. He is being questioned by Vatican police.