Citizens, leaders in Najaf say al-Hakim’s death loss to political process

NAJAF / IraqiNews.com: Citizens and political figures in Najaf expressed upset and sorrow for the death of the Head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) Abdulaziz al-Hakim in a hospital in Tehran , considering his death as a big loss which will harm the political process as he was one of its main pillars in the past years. Najaf, al-Hakim’s birthplace, is witnessing preparations for his funeral and the SIIC members are hanging signs in the main streets. “We were shocked upon hearing the news of al-Hakim’s death,” Abdullatief al-Ameedi, a leader of the SIIC, told Iraqi News, pointing out that the Shiite leader spent his life fighting the Baath party, “Al-Hakim was trying to form a new equation of the political process in Iraq against the unfair equation which ru led Iraq for 35 years,” he added. “He was saying that the aim of the SIIC an d the United Iraqi Alliance is to render the ongoing political process a success and to save the Iraqi people from injustice and to set up institutions ruled by a fair constitution,” he said. “ His death will create a wide vacuum in the political process as he was the pillar of the political process in Iraq ,” he noted. Abbas Mohamed al-Yasseri, a citizen, expressed sorrow for the death of al-Hakim. “Al-Hakim’s family played an important role and contributed in fighting the former regime. His family was repressed more than any family in Iraq ,” he said. “Al-Hakim’ s death is a big loss to the Iraqis and will create a wide vacuum as he was loyal to his people,” another citizen said . Citizen Haydar al-Kareeti voiced hope that the leaders of the SIIC would follow in the steps and approach adopted by both Abdulaziz al-Hakim and his elder brother Mohamed Baqer al-Hakim, who was assassinated near Imam Ali shrine after the Friday prayer in 2003. Meanwhile, thousands of mourners offered prayers and wept on Thursday during a memorial for the Iraqi Shiite leader Abdula ziz al-Hakim, who spent nearly two decades in Iran during Saddam Hussein’s rule before returning to his homeland to become a key political power broker . The ceremony for al-Hakim, who died Wednesday in Tehran of lung cancer, was attended by many Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. In Iraq , the top two U.S. officials in Iraq , Gen. Ray Odierno and Ambassador Christopher Hill, offered condolences in a joint statement Wednesday, praising al-Hakim for “contributing to the building of a new Iraq .” Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said “his death at this sensitive stage that we are undergoing represents a big loss to Iraq .” Parliamentary elections in Iraq are scheduled for January. Al-Hakim was diagnosed with lung cancer in May 2007 after tests at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston . He chose to receive his chemotherapy treatment in Iran . Al-Hakim’s father, Grand Ayatollah Muhsin al-Hakim, was among the most influential Shiite scholars of his generation. The family fled to Iran in 1980 following a crackdown by Saddam on the Shiite opposition. Al-Hakim and his brother, Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, returned to Iraq soon after Saddam’s fall. A bombing on Aug. 29, 2003, in Najaf killed Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim and more than 80 others. Abdulaziz then stepped into the leadership of the Supreme Council. SH (I)/SR 1