France, April 15 -- After his historic visit to Algeria, marred by two suicide attacks and a spat with President Donald Trump, the pontiff is expected later in mainly French-speaking Cameroon, which has been ruled by President Paul Biya since 1982.

In a country where more than a third of the around 30 million people are Catholic, the Church plays a key mediation role and runs a large network of hospitals, schools and charities.

At a cathedral in the capital Yaounde ahead of the visit, people scrambled to get hold of tunics bearing the pope's image.

Posters, banners and flags festooned the city in honour of the visit, the fourth by a pope but the first since Pope Benedict XVI came in 2009.

Pope Leo sets off on African tour focused on p...