The Turkish man who attempted to kill pope John Paul II in 1981 has said he wants political asylum in staunchly Catholic Croatia, where he plans to write a new Bible, a local daily reported on Sunday. "If Croatia gives me political asylum, I would be glad to come and live in Croatia," Mehmet Ali Agca said in a message delivered through his lawyers to the influential Vecernji List daily.
"Croatia is a Catholic country and I am a Catholic. "I am preparing to write a new Bible and correct mistakes and I would like to do that in Catholic Croatia since Italy and Spain refused to grant me asylum," the daily quoted the 52-year-old as saying. Almost 90 percent of Croatia's population of 4.4 million are Roman Catholics.