Slain bishop's alleged killer claims divine intervention (Roundup)

Jun 4, 2010, 13:57 GMT

Istanbul - A driver who has been charged with the murder of a Catholic bishop in southern Turkey has claimed that the act was divinely inspired, Turkish television NTV reported Friday.

'I had a vision from God. This is why I killed,' the murder suspect, Murat Altun, told police, according to unnamed sources quoted by NTV.

The court in the city of Iskendrun, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, Friday said 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 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 Iskendrun 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.