Pope gunman 'should return to prison'

A Turkish court today ruled that the Turkish gunman who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 should return to prison to serve more time for killing a Turkish journalist and for other crimes in Turkey.

No arrest warrant was immediately issued for Mehmet Ali Agca, whose whereabouts were not immediately known.

It was not clear if the appeals court prosecutor, Nuri Ok, will object to the ruling.

The appeals court ruling came eight days after Agca was released from an Istanbul prison.

If the prosecutor approves the ruling, then he will relay the decision to the local prosecutor in Istanbul who would then issue an arrest warrant for Agca.

Until then, police cannot start a manhunt for him.

Agca served 19 years in prison in Italy for shooting the pope on May 13, 1981, and five and a half years of a 10-year sentence in Turkey for the murder of a Turkish journalist in 1979.

In ordering his release, the local court had counted the time served in Italy, but many Turks were outraged over the decision.

But the appeals court today said his time Italy should not have been deducted from his time in Turkey.