Soviet Union was behind attempt to kill Pope, commission says

AN ITALIAN parliamentary commission has concluded “beyond any reasonable doubt” that the Soviet Union was behind the 1981 attempt to kill Pope John Paul II.

It claims to have solved an enduring mystery that the pontiff himself addressed in his last days.

A draft report made available yesterday said the commission held that the Pope was a danger to the Soviet bloc because of his support for the Solidarity labour movement in his native Poland. Solidarity was the first free trade union in communist eastern Europe.