Original subtitles

May the 13th, 1981, St. Peter's Square, Rome, 5 .17 in the afternoon.

Pope John Paul II is being driven slowly through an adoring crowd.

Suddenly, the air is shattered by the sound of gunfire echoing throughout the

vast space.

The Pope staggers and falls back into the arms of an aide.

and a Saturn has shot one of the world's greatest religious leaders.

May the 13th, 1981.

Since being elected three years earlier, John Paul, the world's first pope from

a communist country, Poland, has earned a reputation as a remarkable pontiff.

But his outspoken views on communism, as well as his unswerving political

support for Poland's solidarity movement, have earned him enemies in

places.

And none is higher than the men in the Kremlin.

who keep an iron grip on Eastern Europe.

There's no doubt they'd like to be rid of him.

But would they dare to have him gunned down in front of thousands of people in

St. Peter's Square?

It's a question which has never been properly answered.

Since October the 16th, 1978, when the white smoke rising above the Sistine

Chapel marked his election as Pope, John Paul II has become trusted and admired

not only by the world's 1 .1 billion Roman Catholics, but by followers of

every other faith as well.

However, the rulers of the Soviet Union regard him as a considerable threat.

John Paul II is the first non -Italian to sit on the papal throne in more than

400 years.

Poland has been subject to Soviet rule since the end of World War II in 1945.

But its people are still fiercely independent, steadfastly refusing to

that their country is now part of the USSR.

Despite the fact that Poland is supposed to be atheist, in line with the rest of

the Soviet Union, much of the population remain committed Roman Catholics.

And now that a Pole is Pope, The world at large wonders just how much longer

Kremlin will be able to resist the country's growing demand for change.

Although the fall of communism is still some way ahead, members of the Soviet

Politburo, headed by hardliner Leonid Brezhnev, know they cannot afford to

loosen their grip.

The domino theory is constantly uppermost in their minds.

If one country goes, then the rest will surely follow.

So any attempt to break away from Soviet domination is crushed ruthlessly, as

the Hungarians found to their cost in 1956 and the Czechs in 1968.

The Soviet leaders will not tolerate any criticism, doing everything they can to

stifle it, even resorting to murder.

On September the 7th, 1978, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is killed in

London when he's pricked in the leg with the tip of an umbrella containing a

deadly poison pellet no bigger than a pinhead.

The actual deed is carried out by a member of the Bulgarian secret police,

he was acting on behalf of the KGB.

Now, as the Pope's condemnation of communism becomes even more outspoken,

life is at risk.

Born on May the 18th, 1920, in the small southern Polish town of Werowice, lying

in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, 30 miles from Krakow, the

pope is named Karol Josef Wotila.

A quick learner, young Wotila does well enough at school to win a place at the

Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

But a year later, on September 1, 1939, German troops march into Poland, and

it's not long before the senior academic university staff are rounded up and

imprisoned by the Gestapo.

Wotila goes into hiding with his father, taking whatever work he can to survive,

including working as a manual laborer in a limestone quarry.

In 1942,

With the brutal Nazi occupation in full swing, he responds to his increasing

religious calling by joining a secret seminary.

He's ordained four years later.

Progress is swift, and by July 1958, aged 38, Wotila is in Krakow as

the youngest bishop in Poland.

He's now firmly up against the Soviet rulers in Moscow.

who, although stopping short of direct confrontation with the Church, do

everything they can to thwart and confine its influence.

Twenty years later, Wojtyla is Pope.

The Soviets are appalled.

So as part of their ongoing plan to keep Poland in its place, and undermine any

thoughts its people might have of independence, in October 1981, the

installed General Wojciech Jaruzelski as prime minister.

Even though Jaruzelski is a Pole himself, he's also a hardline communist

would do anything to keep on side with Moscow.

In fact, earlier, in August 1968, he headed the Polish troops sent into

Czechoslovakia to help the Soviets put down the uprising known as the Prague

Spring.

Jaruzelski also had no compunction in ordering the brutal suppression of his

people, including executing workers who dared to go on strike.

On June 2nd, 1979, John Paul II makes his first visit to Poland as Pope.

More than three million people turn out to greet him when he arrives in Warsaw.

And the worried men in the Kremlin know that this is only the beginning.

They try to play down the nine -day visit by imposing a virtual news

throughout Eastern Europe.

But word of the Pope's visit still reaches more than 40 million people

the Iron Curtain.

The following year, Moscow's patience with Poland is stretched to the limit.

when an anti -communist trade union federation known as Solidarity starts

Led by Lech Walesa, a charismatic ship worker, Solidarity represents a real

threat to the regime, and Jaruzelski and Moskow know it.

They try everything they can to kill off Solidarity, including the imposition of

martial law, but to no avail.

The movement just keeps on growing.

Then, to cap it all, on January the 15th, 1981, the Pope receives Valencia

the Vatican.

Now the frustration in the Kremlin reaches new heights.

Something has to be done.

But what?

Then slowly but surely, they begin to think the unthinkable.

They have to get rid of the Pope.

But how?

And more importantly, can it be done without being traced back to Moscow?

In January 1958, the same year that Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope, is

as Bishop of Krakow, a boy is born in a small Turkish village about 300 miles

south of Ankara.

He's called Mehmet Ali Ajka.

23 years later, both he and Wotilo will share an appointment with destiny.

Meanwhile, Ajka spends much of his childhood and early adolescence as a

criminal, running with street gangs and smuggling goods between Turkey and

Bulgaria.

At some point during his youth, Ajka claims to have been trained as a

in Syria by the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

although this was later denied by the PLO.

What does appear to be true, however, is that Ajka becomes involved with an

extreme right -wing group of young Turkish nationalists known as the Grey

Their intent on destabilizing Turkey, and in fact play an active role in a

military coup in September 1980 led by General Kenan Evin.

However, after they had served their initial purpose, Evren outlawed the Grey

Wolves, later arresting and charging 220 members with nearly 700 murders.

Meanwhile, Ajka is on the run in Bulgaria, having escaped from an

prison after being arrested and charged with the murder of Abdi Epekci, editor

of a moderate left -wing Turkish newspaper, in June 1979.

He'd been given the job by the Grey Wolves.

On November 28th the same year, Atschke, now in hiding, writes a letter to the

same newspaper launching a vitriolic attack on Pope John Paul, who is due to

arrive on his first visit to Turkey that very day.

Atschke claims the Pope is in thrall to the Soviet Union and the US.

who fear that Turkey will become the centre of a new wave of Islamic power in

the Middle East.

He refers to John Paul as a crusader and threatens to kill him if the visit is

not cancelled.

When the letter, which appears on the newspaper's front page, is brought to

Pope's attention, he refuses to take it seriously.

In the event, the two -day visit to Turkey passes off without incident, and

Pope returns safely to Rome.

By the autumn of 1980, Achka is moving throughout the Mediterranean area,

switching passports and identities with apparent ease.

He has become a highly dangerous and resourceful young man, and he still

thoughts of killing the Pope.

All he needs is the opportunity.

Slowly, but surely, a plan begins to form in his mind.

Several times a year, the Pope makes an appearance in St. Peter's Square, Rome.

Agica knows that once the Pope has blessed the crowds from a balcony

the square, he is then driven round it in an unprotected open vehicle.

All Agica has to do is get in close.

He will then shoot the Pope and make his escape during the ensuing confusion.

During his drive round the square, the Pope will be accompanied by a detachment

of the Swiss Guard, who maintain security at the Vatican and act as

bodyguards to the Pope when he's out in public.

However, Ajka believes they will be so busy attending to the stricken Pope that

they will not notice him slip away.

John Paul II is rapidly becoming the most travelled pontiff in history.

But now, in May 1981, following a visit three months earlier to various Asian

countries, including Pakistan, he's in Rome.

May 10, 1981, Rome.

Mehmet Ali Ajka is now also in Rome.

He's arrived by train from Milan.

taking a room in a small boarding house about 15 minutes from the Vatican and

St. Peter's Square.

The Vatican is the heart of the Roman Catholic Church.

The sovereign state, in its own right, is the smallest independent nation in

world.

This is Ansgar's fourth visit to Italy in two years, and he will spend the next

couple of days hanging around St. Peter's Square.

checking out all the entry and exit points.

May 13th, St. Peter's Square, Rome, 3pm.

Hachkar arrives in the square.

The vast open space can accommodate more than 300 ,000 people.

The Pope likes to make his way round the square and talk to visitors who have

travelled from all over the world to see him.

And as Ajka knows, he's due there towards the end of the afternoon.

5 .05 p .m. John Paul enters the square in an open -top car.

Progress through the thick press of people is, as usual, slow.

By 15 p .m.

No one notices the swarthy young man pressing through the crowd until he's

ten feet from the Pope's vehicle.

And with all eyes fixed on the Holy Father, no one sees the young man take a

handgun from his pocket and raise it.

5 .17 p .m.

Four shots ring out in quick succession.

For a moment, there's a stunned silence as thousands of people catch their

breath.

The Pope falls backwards and is supported by one of his assistants.

He's been hit in the abdomen, his right arm, and the index finger of his left

hand.

Two American women tourists standing nearby.

are also hit by two of the same bullets.

The gunman is 23 -year -old Mehmet Ali Ajka.

5 .20 p .m.

Now there's complete pandemonium.

Ajka forces his way back through the stunned crowd to the edge of the square

where he throws his gun under a truck.

But he's grabbed, first by a nun, then by a security guard who pulls him to the

ground.

5 .25 p .m. As people scream, weep, and fall to their knees in shock, the Pope

is raced back inside the Vatican, lifted into an ambulance, and rushed to the

Gemelli Hospital.

Meanwhile, Adjkar is hustled away and put under lock and key.

Police then carry out a thorough search at the scene of the crime.

5 .45 p .m. The Pope.

reaches hospital.

By now he's lost consciousness.

Luckily, however, despite the serious wounds to his abdomen, none of the

have hit a vital organ.

11 p .m.

John Paul is in the operating theater for five hours before the surgeons are

confident he'll survive.

But he will not recover consciousness until the middle of the next day.

News of the attempt on the Pope's life shocks the world, and messages of

and sympathy pour in.

US President Ronald Reagan, recovering himself from an assassination attempt in

March, sends his best wishes.

Even Soviet leader Brezhnev, although this is greeted with a great deal of

cynicism in some quarters, expresses his indignation.

Following his operation, the Pope remains in intensive care for a few days

before being moved to a private apartment within the Gemelli Hospital.

By early June, he's back at the Vatican.

It's business as usual.

Mehmet Ali Ajka goes to trial in July.

As he's found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, he insists... he

alone.

But not everyone believes him.

They're still convinced the Soviet Union had a hand in the assassination

attempt.

Later, however, Ajka changes his story yet again.

He claims he was put up for the job by the Bulgarian secret police, who'd

offered the Grey Wolves a large sum of money if he succeeded.

They, in turn, according to Ajka, were acting on behalf of the KGB, headed at

the time by Yuri Andropov, who would eventually succeed Brezhnev as Soviet

leader.

Writer on terrorism Claire Stirling is convinced the Soviets were involved in

the plot to kill the Pope.

Oh, I don't think there's any doubt in them.

privately in the minds of all the politicians, that if the guilt of

established, it really establishes the guilt of the Soviet Union. It's a

question of diplomatic fictions being necessary, perhaps, in the minds of many

politicians, because they simply don't know how to cope with a situation in

which the Soviet Union and its present leader, in particular, would be branded

as guilty of this really extraordinarily grave crime.

And the reason?

John Paul's support for solidarity and his distaste for communism in general.

Adjka says that when he arrived in Rome three days before the attempt on the

Pope's life, he met with three fellow conspirators, a Turk and two Bulgarians.

The plan is for Adjka and one of the men to shoot the Pope while the others set

off a small bomb.

During the ensuing alarm and confusion, they would then escape from the square

and take shelter in the Bulgarian embassy.

However, says Ajka, the others panicked and ran off before anything happened.

But no one really believes him.

Nonetheless, in 1984, Italian police charged three Bulgarians and five Turks

with complicity in the assassination attempt.

But after a trial lasting nearly two years, they're acquitted for lack of

evidence.

Despite this, rumor and counter -rumor about possible Soviet involvement

continues to swirl.

In 1991, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who actually met with the

December 1, 1989, at the Vatican, denies emphatically that the KGB had anything

to do with the attempt on his life.

But the story still won't lie down.

June the 13th, 2000.

Italian President Azzelio Ciampi, with the full backing of the Pope, grants his

would -be assassin clemency.

Achkar is flown to Istanbul the next day, where he's immediately incarcerated

for his earlier crimes, In particular, the newspaper editor murder.

A month earlier, Pope John Paul had celebrated his 80th birthday.

By now, he's a shadow of his former self.

Stooped, frail, and suffering from the onset of Parkinson's disease.

But he insists on carrying out his papal duties.

April the 2nd.

2005, the Vatican, 9 .37 p .m.

The Pope dies in his apartment, just 46 days short of his 85th birthday.

However, well before his death, and much to his satisfaction, he'd seen the

total collapse of communism and the release of Eastern Europe, including his

beloved Poland, from the Soviet yoke.

His funeral, which sees the greatest ever coming together of international

of state, is watched by millions on television.

January the 12th, 2006.

Ajka is released on parole.

Eight days later, he's returned to jail.

This follows a Turkish high court ruling that the time spent in an Italian jail

shouldn't be deducted from his original life sentence.

However, serious doubts still remain.

over whether or not Ajka acted alone when he tried to kill the Pope.

And, more importantly, was the KGB pulling his strings by using the

secret police?

In March the previous year, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sets up

judicial inquiry into the affair.

Its findings are published a year later.

They're devastating.

The report boldly states...

This commission believes beyond any reasonable doubt that the leaders of the

Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the Pope, Karol Wojtyla.

The reason?

Because the Soviets regarded his open support for the Solidarity Movement as a

serious threat to their hold over Poland.

At the time, the report adds, Poland was the main military base of the Warsaw

Pact. Its main supply line... and troop concentrations.

Importantly, however, the report concludes that it was the Soviet

intelligence agency, the GRU, rather than the KGB, which masterminded the

In Moscow, the Foreign Intelligence Service responded by describing the

allegations as absurd.

The real truth will probably never be revealed.

As for Achka...

He keeps changing his story, even once claiming that Vatican officials helped

him plan the attack.

But perhaps the last word belongs to Pope John Paul II himself.

In his book, Memory and Identity, Conversations Between Millennia,

short time before his death, he says that although Ajka, whom he'd once

in jail, fired the gun, that someone else planned it. Someone else.

commissioned it.

But no matter who is responsible, had the attempt on the Pope's life

it would have gone down in history as one of the most infamous assassinations

the 20th century.