A week before his release Ali Agca issued an open letter via his lawyers condemning terrorism. In it he describes Osama bin Laden and Adolf Hitler as "the common enemies of all religions and all nations in the world."
His lawyers say it shows he's a changed man.
[Yilmaz Abosoglu, Mehmet Ali Agca's Lawyer]: "My client has served years in prison as the laws required for the charges and he will now be released. He is one of the prisoners who served the most time in prison. Of course his current thinking may differ from his old ideas, he has changed and he showed this in his letter. Now he is against terrorism."
In 1981 Ali Agca shot the Pope in the Vatican's St Peter's Square.
It's still not clear what his motive was.
The former far-right gangster served 19 years in an Italian prison for the assassination attempt.
After being pardoned at the Pope's request in 2000, he was extradited to Turkey to serve time for other crimes including the murder of a newspaper editor.
Agca says he'll answer questions about the attack once he is free.
Rumors are already circulating about possible book and film deals about Agca's experience.
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
SIC: NDTN