Italy pardons Agca

Reports from Italy say the president, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, has signed a pardon for the man who shot and wounded Pope John Paul at the Vatican in 1981.

The gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca who's from Turkey, was arrested by police as he tried to flee St Peter's Square after the shooting and has been in custody ever since.

He was already under sentence of death in Turkey for murder at the time and it's not yet clear if he'll be sent back there.

Details are still coming in.

The Pope has publicly forgiven Agca for the attack.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service