Son of Hakim to head SIIC until new chief is elected

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A leading member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) on Saturday said that Ammar al-Hakim, the son of Shiite leader Abdulaziz al-Hakim, will step in as the council’s head until a new chairman is elected. “The council’s policies stipulate that the chairman’s deputy should take over during the absence of its head,” Hamid Mualla said in statements to Iraqi News. “A meeting will be held to elect a new chairman to succeed the Abdulaziz al-Hakim,” he added. On Wednesday (Aug. 26), Hakim passed away after physicians failed to treat a recent serious deterioration in his health in a hospital in Tehran. Iraq has announced a three-day mourning for the death of the leading Shiite politician. Hakim is the leader of the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which comprises major Shiite parties. The bloc is the largest in the Iraqi parliament after it won the 2005 elections with 128 out of a total 275 seats. He also spearheaded the SIIC after the assassination of his brother Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim in August 2003. A powerful and one of the most prominent Shiite political figures in Iraq, Hakim was in charge of the political affairs of the SIIC’s precursor Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). He also led the SCIRI delegation to Washington during the meetings held by the Iraqi opposition groups to discuss the means to unseat the Baath regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Hakim returned to Iraq nearly one month after the Baath regime was deposed. He became a member of the U.S.-installed Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in December 2003. The SIIC has been calling for adopting a federal system for Iraq, that is the establishment of federal provinces in Iraq to help run the country and accelerate its development process. This vision brought the SIIC closer to the Kurds who had struck an alliance with it. The SIIC has played a key role in the country’s political process and retained some important portfolios in the government, in addition to the vice president post, after the 2005 elections. SS (S) 1