BULGARIA KNEW OF PLOT ON POPE, PAPER REPORTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505120113-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 27, 2010
• Sequence Number: 113
• Publication Date: January 31, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505120113-5
WASHINGTON POST
31 JANUARY 1983
Bulgaria Knew
Of Plot on Pope,
Paper Reports
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 (UPI1-
The CIA believes that Bulgarian of-
ficial knew in advance of a terror-
ist's plans to kill Pope John Paul II
but. never thought they would be
carried out, the Los Angeles Times
reported today.
The CIA is convinced that neither
the Bulgarians nor the Soviet Union
instigated the attack on the pope in
St. Peter's Square 20 months ago,
the Times reported.
Despite the fact that no proof has
been found. the Times said CIA spe-
cialists believe that Bulgarian intel-
ligence agents knew Turkish terror-
ist Mehmet Ali Agca was bent on
killing,the pope. But they reportedly
considered him an unstable person
who probably would be captured.
The CIA conclusion makes the
Bulgarians-and by extension the
Soviets, who control the Bulgar-
ians-accessories before the fact."
the Times quoted an unidentified
source. "It dilutes their guilt, but not
very much."
If the White House accepts the
CIA assessment, it could remove at
least one stumbling block in the way
of a summit meeting between Pres-
ident Reagan and Soviet leader Yuri
V. Andropov. Andropov was head of .
the KGB, the Soviet secret police
and intelligence network, at the time
the pope was shot.
"Reagan could never meet Andro-
pov if it was proved unequivocally
that the Bulgarians, and therefore
the Soviet KGB, was behind the plot
to kill the pope," a U.S. official told
the Times.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505120113-5