Pope’s would-be assassin hopes to attend funeral

ISTANBUL - Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who shot and gravely wounded Pope John Paul in 1981, has asked for permission to leave prison to attend the pontiff's funeral, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

The Pope forgave his would-be killer two years later, and maintained contact with him and his family.

"I have lost my spiritual brother. I share in the mourning of my Christian Catholic people," Agca wrote in a rambling open letter released by his lawyer on Tuesday - which also repeated his claim to be the "second messiah".

Agca is in jail in Istanbul, having been extradited for murder and robbery after serving 19 years in Italy for the assassination attempt.

His lawyer, Mustafa Demirdag, said Agca had applied for a short compassionate release. Authorities were expected to respond within hours but it appeared unlikely they would grant the request.

Agca shot the Pope in the abdomen during a general audience in St Peter's Square on the anniversary of the 1917 apparition of Jesus' mother, the Virgin Mary, near Fatima in Portugal.

The Pope said he believed the Virgin Mary had intervened to save his life. Agca has over the years insisted this made him part of a divine plan.

In his open letter, he wrote: "The divine plan has reached its conclusion. So we are at the end of the world."

He also said he was rewriting the Bible and would soon reveal "Fatima's secret".

Over the years, Agca has given conflicting reasons for his attempt on John Paul's life, including allegations of a conspiracy with Bulgaria's communist-era secret services and the Soviet KGB.

- REUTERS