ITALY WEIGHS BULGARIAN SPY ACTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505140043-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 43
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505140043-1
ON PAGE
WASHINGTON TIMES
14 DECEMBER 1982
Italy wei
Bulgarian
s action
py
ROME - Italian Foreign Minister
Emilio Colombo said yesterday that if
the information Italian officials have
about an alleged Bulgarian plot to assas-
sinate Pope John Paul II last year turns
out to be correct, the countries of NATO
would have to be informed.
Secretary of State George P Shultz,
who was with Colombo when he made
the statement, described the informa-
tion that the Italians are still collecting
as a "serious investigation with impor-
tant implications:' But both men stopped
short of implying that the Soviet Union
may have been behind the assassination
attempt.
One Bulgarian official in Rome has
already been arrested in connection with
the shooting of the Pope, a warrant has
been issued for the arrest of another
Bulgarian alleged to be an official of the
BulgarianSecret Service. Within the last
four days, the ambassadors of both coun-
tries have been withdrawn "for talks"
amid rapidly growing tension between
Bulgaria and Italy. A Bulgarian official
news agency in Vienna yesterday sug-
gested that the CIA was involved with
the attempted assassin, Mehmet All Agca,
a Turk.
Said C lombaafter qty
for nearly two hours y~Weare
following with great concemthe evalua-
tion of this situation. The data that we
do have at the moment are cot complete
and not everything has been confirmed.
We will give a political assessiuertt when
all the necessary data are confirmed.
"Of-course, we consider tbeAftetion
to bea very serious one, and if the data
correspond to what are the assumptions
at the moment, Italy will reflect very
seriouslyon the conclusions to be drawn.
We will also speak about this toourNATO
allies."
Colombo later tried to downpl t his
latter comment by saying this would be
a normal consultation because it would
involve a member of the Warsaw Pact.
And Shultz added: "I- don't 'think It is
well to speculate excessively ahti .The .
government of Italy has said they would
keep us informed. We'll rest dttbat."
The implication of the slMihion for
East-West Security is vast. ao.g
the head of the KGB in may :t9~t1 was
Yuri Andropov, nowleeder of thbgoviet
Union, and considering that9huitz has
just concluded a eaity-boost*eg meet-
ing of NATO, whidt deterndned to con-
tinue planning the deployment of endear
weapons but also offered a sfncaie hand
of friendship m the new Sovletieadesship.
Shultz met with the pope lathe
VJst can
earlier in the day, but neitherlihuttz nor
other 'U.S. officials would say If the
"Bulgarian connection" and the Chris-
tian Democratic Party has asktdColombo
and Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani
for an explanation of actions of Bulgarian
authorities in connection with the assas-
sination attempt.
Approved For Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505140043-1