TURKEY: Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981, was released from a Turkish jail yesterday after serving more than a quarter of a century behind bars.
"Agca is now a free man. After 26 years Agca is now getting wet in the rain," his lawyer Mustafa Demirbag said.
But Turkish justice minister Cemil Cicek said he would appeal Agca's release and the 48-year-old former right-wing gangster could be jailed again for the 1979 murder of liberal newspaper editor Abdi Ipekci and charges dating from the 1970s. "As the justice minister, I will ask the appeals court to examine the release of Agca," Mr Cicek said.
Agca's motives in shooting the pope in Rome's St Peter's Square remain a mystery, but some believe he was a hitman for Soviet-era East European security services alarmed by the Polish-born pontiff's fierce opposition to communism.
An Italian ex-magistrate who investigated the 1981 shooting says Agca could now be in danger as he knows too many secrets.
Dressed casually and looking solemn, Agca was whisked from his Istanbul jail to register for military service.
The army insists he must do his military service, obligatory for all Turkish men, but it was not immediately clear whether or when this would take place. He left prison under heavy guard due to fears he might flee the draft as he did in the 1970s.
However, his lawyers hope he will win a reprieve or serve a shorter stint because of his age and poor health.
Agca served 19 years in an Italian prison for the assassination attempt before being pardoned at the pope's behest in 2000. He was then extradited to Turkey to serve a separate sentence for the Ipekci murder and robbery. Under new Turkish laws, his time served in Italy was deducted from the 25 years left on his sentence in Turkey.
His early release has triggered criticism in Turkey. - (Reuters)