Paris-  French police have placed radical gay militants under surveillance ahead of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to France on September 12-15, the daily Le Figaro reported on Wednesday.

Eager to avoid a repeat of the condom shower that greeted the Pope in Sydney, Australia, in July, certain gay activist groups such as Act Up are being closely watched in the run-up to the visit.

In addition, because of threats to the Pope made in May 2007 by the terrorist network al-Qaeda and the recent terrorist attacks in Algeria, French security officers will be placed on maximum alert during his stay in Paris and the pilgrimage site of Lourdes.

Some 6,000 police and other security forces will be covering the event, a deployment of unprecedented scale, the daily said.

During the Pope's visit to Lourdes, an AWACS aircraft, fighter-jets and anti-missile batteries will seal off airspace extending some 20 kilometers around the city. (dpa)