URGENT / SIIC chief al-Hakim dies

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The leader of Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), Abdulaziz al-Hakim, died on Wednesday, a source close to his family said. Al-Furat satellite channel announced his death in a Urgent. “The cleric died on Wednesday (Aug. 26) after his medical team failed to stop his health deterioration,” the source told Iraqi News. Ammar al-Hakim, son of Abdulaziz al-Hakim, announced in an urgent statement the death of his father, praising his history in fighting the former regime and consoling the Iraqi people and the Islamic world. Al-Hakim, born in 1950, headed the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) since 2003, after his brother, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Baqer al-Hakim, was killed in a car bomb. Abdulaziz al-Hakim’s son Ammar al-Hakim is expected to next lead SIIC. SIIC is part of Iraq’s ruling Shiite alliance, which also includes Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawa party, but SIIC announced this week it would lead a new group to compete in January’s polls without Maliki. SH (P) 1