MOSCOW DENIES A PLOT ON THE POPE AS 'ABSURD'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505140039-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 39
• Publication Date: December 19, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505140039-6
ARTICLE APPEARED
0.'J PAGE__ _._._.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
19 DECEMBER 1982
Moscow Denies a Plot on the Pope as `Absurd'
By JOHN F. BURNS
Special to The New York nmu
. MOSCOW, Dec. 18 = The Soviet
Union issued a statement today
strongly denying that there had been
any complicity by Moscow in the at-
tempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
The statement also dismissed West-
ern speculation on the matter as "a
campaign totally steeped in lies.."
The three-paragraph item was un-
usual in that it carried the heading
"statement" but gave no attribution to
the Government, as is usually the case
with such declarations. But its impor-
tance was indicated by Its appearance
in today's issues of Izvestia and
.Pravda, the principal Government and
party newspapers, and by its appear-
ance three times in 24 hours on the
English-language service of the official
press agency Tass.
The-:statement gave Soviet readers
none of the background against which
Western speculation about the assassi-
nation attempt has developed. Sugges.
tions of possible Soviet involvement
were made by officials in Italy and else
where after the Italian authorities
began investigating reports that impli-
cated a number of people from Bulgar-
ia. perhaps the Soviet union's most
faithful ally in the Eastern bloc.
"Absurd insinuations that some so-
cialist countries are involved in the at-
tempt made on the life of Pope John
Paul II in May of last year have been
circulated" in a number of Western
states 'lately,". the statement said.
"This campaign, totally steeped in lies,
is spearheaded against Bulgaria. Foul,
nods are made from time to time also in
the direction of the Soviet Union."
"Such statements should be ignored,
in general," the statement said, but
then alluded to one reason why the sug-
gestion of a Soviet connection had
prompted such an authoritative and
emphatic rejection - the danger that
the allegations might Incite new trouble
in Poland, the Pope's native country.
"Attempts are being made to specu-
late on the feelings of trusting people, in
particular believers," the statement-
said. It offered no elaboration, but,
Soviet citizens are generally well aware'
that the overwhelming majority of
Poles are Roman Catholics and that
Pope John Paul is a Pole.
Another reason for the unusual insist-
ence with which the denial was issued
- it is rare for Tass to repeat any item
three times - appeared to be, that the
new Soviet party leader, Yuri V. Andro-
pov, was head of the K.G.B., the Soviet
intelligence agency, at the time of the
attempt on- -Pope's life.
i Most of the speculation on Bulgarian
;and Soviet involvement in the attempt
has focused on the K.G.B., which has a
history of participation in attempts to
discredit and, on occasion, to kill indi-
viduals outside the Soviet Union who
were considered a threat. In Rome,
those favoring the theory of a plot have
even speculated that the Italian au-
thorities' interest in the Bulgarian co-
nection may have derived from leaks
by opponents of Mr. Andropov within
the Soviet Union who would like to see,
him compromised in the affair.
Perhaps more than any of its counter-
.parts in the Soviet bloc, the Bulgarian
secret police operates as an adjunct of
the K.G.B. Theories linking the K.G.B.
to a conspiracy began spreading after a
Bulgarian airline employee was . ar-
rested in Rome on suspicion, of com-
plicity with Mehmet All Agca, the Turin
convicted of shooting the Pope. The
Italians are also seeking other Bulgar-
ians, including two diplomats who re-
turned home recently.
The Soviet statement today said that
the United States had fomented the
speculation in an -effort to cover up its
own complicity in violence at home and
in allied countries. The statement also.
said that such attempts were meant to
divert attention from Western military
preparations against the Soviet Union.
"Facts show that the dirty tracks of
this provocation are leading to than
who support repressive regimes like
those in Chile or El Salvador, who pa-
tronize the Israeli aggressors and ter-
rorists, who are accustomed to daily
manifestations of violence in their own
country," the statement said.
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505140039-6