Vatican: pope will not attend Peres funeral

The Vatican said that Pope Francis will not be attending the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, despite earlier reports that he would be coming, ABC News reported.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the pope will not be able to attend Friday's funeral in Jerusalem, noting that he is scheduled to begin a three-day trip to Georgia and Azerbaijan that day.

Israel's Foreign Ministry, after earlier saying the pope would be in attendance, said Wednesday that he was no longer scheduled to attend. It gave no further details.

Shimon Peres, who served twice as Israel's prime minister and once as president, has died at the age of 93.

Peres suffered a stroke two weeks ago. His condition had improved before a sudden deterioration on Tuesday.

Source: MENA