A man has scaled the scaffolding around St Peter's Square in the Vatican and draped a banner calling on Pope Benedict XVI to "Stop Terrorism".

The man identified himself on the banner as Julian Jungarean, a Romanian who has previously scaled the colonnade around the piazza.

Witnesses said uniformed officers were speaking with him from the ground and a nearby roof.

Benedict celebrated New Year's Day Mass earlier in St Peter's Basilica and said he was convinced that peace will prevail in 2013 despite the inequality, terrorism and "unregulated financial capitalism" that afflict the world.

Jungarean's protest did not appear to cause the Pope any disturbance.

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