SOVIET, ASSERTING C.I.A. LIES, DENIES ANY PLOT TO KILL POPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00845R000201300045-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 18, 2010
• Sequence Number: 45
• Publication Date: September 23, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00845R
AIRTIME ON PAGE_,~j_/-
fiEW YORK TTES
23 sum 1932
000201300045-3
Soviet, Asserting C.I.A: Lies
Denies Any Plot to Kill Pope
MOSCOW, Sept. 22 (UPI) - The
Soviet Union today denied any involve-
ment in the assassination attempt
against Pope John Paul II.
Contending that operatives of the
Central Intelligence Agency planted the
story, the official press agency Tass
said, "They in Washington hoped to
throw a stone at the Soviet Union, but
they threw a boomerang."
The Soviet statement came after
NBC News broadcast a report Tuesday,
"The Man Who Shot the Pope: A Study
in Terrorism," saying the Kremlin may
have backed the May 1981 assassination
attempt after the Pope threatened to re-
turn to Poland, his homeland, if the
Russians invaded to put down Solidari-
ty, the independent trade union move.
`Foul Anti-Soviet Sensations'
A Tass commentator, Yuri Kornilov,
said that "specialists in fabricating foul
anti-Soviet sensations" had apparently
seized upon the assassination attempt
despite the conviction of a Turkish
rightist for the shooting.
"Displaying considerable smartness;
these specialists composed for the
American NBC television company a.
provocative show," he said. "Of course
there were no and could not be any facts .
to prove this."
He dismissed evidence provided by
NBC as "absurd inventions" about
Soviet agents, their Bulgarian assist.
ants, revolvers and false passports -
"in short, all the attributes of a cheap
detective story."
It would have been better to expose
the C.LA., Tass said, suggesting that
the agency was behind the killings of
such leaders as Patrice Lumumba of
the Congo, Salvador Allende of Chile
and Orlando Letelier, a former Allende
minister.
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00845R000201300045-3
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00845R000201300045-3
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00845R000201300045-3