World Notes Italy

"Everyone who knows me knows that I do not speak English," insisted Sergei Antonov, in his native Bulgarian. That disclaimer by the trembling, white- faced defendant came in response to pointed questioning by Judge Severino Santiapichi last week at the four-month-old trial in Rome of Antonov and six other defendants; they are accused of conspiring with Turkish Gunman Mehmet Ali Agca to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square four years ago. The question of Antonov's linguistic skills is considered vital to the , prosecution's case because Agca has said that he communicated with his alleged coconspirators in English.

In his questioning, the judge was skeptical that Antonov could have functioned effectively in his job as deputy chief of Bulgaria's Balkan Airlines' Rome office without a working knowledge of English. In fact, one important prosecution witness, former Balkan Airlines Hostess Magdalena Traynova, who now lives in Chicago, said that she once worked with Antonov and was certain that he spoke the language. Said Traynova: "I couldn't myself have gotten my job without English."