Turkey detains student over killing of Italian priest

Turkish security forces arrested a high school student yesterday over the killing of an Italian Catholic priest and Turkish television said the teenager had confessed to a crime which has shocked this Muslim nation.

The student told police he was influenced by cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad, NTV commercial television said. The report could not be immediately confirmed.

The state Anatolian news agency said the student, aged 16, had been carrying a 9 mm pistol when he was captured in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, where Fr Andrea Santoro, 61, was gunned down on Sunday while praying.

The Turkish government has strongly condemned the killing of Fr Santoro, which coincides with increased religious tension worldwide following the publication of cartoons in some European and other newspapers lampooning the Prophet.

The cartoons - one of which showed the Prophet with a bomb in his turban - have incensed Muslims and sparked violent protests in a number of countries.

Turkish television showed police bundling a man whose face was covered up into an armoured vehicle and driving off.

Turkey, with a population of 72 million, is overwhelmingly Muslim and its tiny Christian population is barely 60,000. Turkey has seen street protests against the cartoons, but they have been peaceful, in contrast to some Muslim countries.

A Vatican embassy spokesman in Ankara told Reuters on Monday the gunman had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for "God is greatest") as he shot Fr Santoro.

The Vatican has joined Muslim countries, including Turkey, in condemning the cartoons of the Prophet, saying freedom of speech does not mean freedom to offend a person's religion.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called on Turkey yesterday to "neutralise fanatics" after the killing of Fr Santoro, but said the murder should not be allowed to affect Ankara's bid to join the European Union.

Violent attacks on Christian clergy are virtually unheard of in Turkey, which views itself as a bridge between mainly Christian Europe and the predominantly Muslim Middle East.

Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca tried to kill Pope John Paul in 1981. His motives for the shooting in Rome's St Peter's Square remain a mystery.

Speaking on a radio talk show, Mr Berlusconi reaffirmed his support for Turkey's EU bid.

"I think we should help Turkey's entry into Europe because it is an example of how all Islamic countries should be," Mr Berlusconi said.