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$8 million for pope's would-be assassin
World Net Daily. Salt as needed.A Hollywood film company has struck an $8 million deal with the man who shot Pope John Paul II, according to the Italian news weekly Gente. Mehmet Ali Agca, who was released from an Istanbul jail last week, already has received a $500,000 advance from an unidentified company to make a film explaining how and why he carried out the 1981 attack, says his bodyguard, Haydar Mengi. Gente said the movie deal caused Agca to back out of a $600,000 agreement to give an exclusive television interview upon his release. The pope nearly died after he was shot twice by Agca while greeting crowds at the Vatican's St. Peter's Square. The Turkish gunman immediately was arrested and later sentenced by an Italian court to life in prison. John Paul famously visited Agca in prison two years later and forgave him. Mengi said Agca had gone into hiding to finalize the negotiations, which is why he didn't sign in at his local police station as required. Circle shows Mehmet Ali Agca aiming at Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in 1981. "As part of the deal, Agca must give a full interview about what happened leading up to the shooting and the shooting itself and he will also play himself in the movie," Mengi said. "Other terms of the contract ban Agca from giving interviews and he must keep out of trouble." Agca initially said he acted alone then confessed to being hired by the Bulgarian secret service. He later retracted that, but it was widely believed the Soviet Union's KGB initiated a plot to kill the Polish pope because of his threat to communist rule in Eastern Europe. Mengi told the magazine Agca will fly to Mexico soon to begin production for the film. "But Agca's life is without doubt at risk â he knows too much," Mengi said. "Killing him is the only way of keeping him quiet. I'm certain he would be safe if he told his story to as many people as possible." Agca was pardoned by Italy's president in 1999 and sent back to Turkey to serve an outstanding sentence for the murder of a Turkish newspaper editor. A judge decided last week to release him, but Turkey's justice minister has ordered a probe and could return him to jail. Posted by: Jackal 2006-01-20 |
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