Slain bishop's driver charged by court

Jun 4, 2010, 9:25 GMT

Istanbul - A court Friday charged with murder the driver of a Catholic bishop found slain the day before in southern Turkey.

The court in the city of Iskendrun, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, said driver Murat Altun will be jailed pending trial for the murder of Bishop Luigi Padovese, the Vicar Apostolic for the Anatolia region of Turkey.

Padovese was found stabbed in his summer home. Church officials have said that he was scheduled to travel to Cyprus on Friday to meet with the Pope during his visit to the island.

Authorities have said they do not believe the killing to be politically motivated and that the driver had been suffering from depression.

Padovese took up his post in Iskenderun in November 2004.

The city is located in a region that is home to an ancient, but dwindling, community of Christians who have lived in the area since Roman times.

In recent years, nationalist extremists in Turkey on several occasions have attacked or kidnapped Christian clergymen in the country.

Iskendrun had been the scene of another attack Monday, when a naval base was targeted by rocket fire, resulting in the death of six sailors. Kurdish guerrillas are suspected of being behind that act.