Last week, as Pope John Paul II was nearing the end of his earthly sojourn, "a special Italian investigative parliamentary commission announced it had obtained compelling evidence the Soviet KGB was indeed behind the 'Special Task' - what the secret police called high level assassinations - in Rome that was the 1981 attempt to kill the Pope," writes Eric Margolis in the Toronto Sun on Monday, April 4. He adds, "The evidence was discovered by researchers in the most secret archives of the Stasi, East Germany's intelligence service."

This was first explained in detail by writer Claire Sterling in her 1983 book where she explained that Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who tried to kill the Pope, was a deep cover agent working for Bulgarian intelligence, a service specializing in conducting killings for the KGB, masquerading as a Turkish right winger.

She and Margolis explained that a Bulgarian agent working for the state airline in Rome, controlled both the plot, and Agca.

Margolis states that Agca admitted as much while in prison but then rescinded when the Bulgarians threatened to kill him in prison.

Italian magistrates have also determined that East Germany's Stasi were involved in the plot, “to what extent has not been revealed," said Margolis.

"The news has prompted Italy to demand Bulgaria conduct a full scale investigation and charge the guilty parties. The Bulgarians, anxious to get into NATO and Europe's good graces, are in a serious jam - if they open their files, they will be exposed as world class criminals," writes Margolis, adding, "reopening the Agca case means the trail will eventually lead to Moscow, as this column (Margolis') has been saying for two decades.”

We anticipate with interest to see where this investigation will lead.

Märkmed: