Terrorist now cares for stray cats and dogs
Our Andy Lines and Agca
Jail shot of Agca in Turkey 9MM Browning he used to shoot Pope
THE man who shot the Pope has told of his relief that his victim did not die... and has revealed he was dating an English girl just weeks before the assassination bid.
In an extraordinary interview with the Daily Mirror, Mehmet Ali Agca was asked if he regretted the 1981 attack which shocked the world.
After pausing for a second the former terrorist replied: “It was destiny. And it was destiny he survived. I am very glad he didn’t die.
“The Pope became like a brother to me. When he died [in 2005] I felt like my brother or my best friend had died.”
We tracked down Agca, 62, to Istanbul, Turkey, where he lives in a small apartment in a quiet suburb.
After 29 years in jail he has renounced his violent past and neighbours know him better as the kind man who daily feeds stray cats and dogs.
He said: “I think of how I shot the Pope on most days... not every day now but most days.
“I’m a good man now. I try to live my life properly. When I shot him I was 23. I was young and I was ignorant.
“I remember how rational I felt. I fired the gun and then it jammed.” Agca also disclosed, for the first time, that he had an English girlfriend just five months before he attacked John Paul II in St Peter’s Square, Rome.
He said: “I already knew I was going to shoot the Pope but I didn’t tell my English girlfriend. It wouldn’t have been fair on her.
“You know I had an English girlfriend? I met her in Tunisia in December 1980. Her name was Edith. We met at the Intercontinental Hotel in Hammonasset. I was travelling on a false passport and she would have known me as Farouk.
“I already knew I was going to try and kill the Pope but I didn’t tell her.
“She worked in a large London department store like Harrods. I can’t remember which one.
“She was very, very beautiful and I had a great time with her.
“She was six or seven years older than me. But she certainly didn’t know her boyfriend was already planning to kill the Pope.
“I do sometimes wonder what happened to her.”
Agca is still reluctant to discuss exactly how his sinister mission came about but the facts are well documented. At 5.17pm on Wednesday May 13, 1981, as John Paul passed
I remember how rational I felt..I fired the gun and then it jammed
MEHMET ALI AGCA ON ST PETER’S SHOOTING