Pope gunman may go back to prison

THE Turkish gunman who spent 25 years behind bars for shooting Pope John Paul II in 1981 was released yesterday but may soon be returned to jail.

A white car whisked Mehmet Ali Agca - whose attempt to assassinate the Pope gained notoriety for him and shame for his homeland - through the gates of the high-security Kartal Prison.

Nationalist supporters who fought alongside Agca in street battles against leftists in the 1970s cheered and tossed flowers.