http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/23/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-Amar-Al-Hakim.php
Cleric detained by Americans is among Iraq's most powerful Shiite politicians The Associated Press Published: February 23, 2007 BAGHDAD, Iraq: The young black-turbaned cleric detained for nearly 12 hours Friday by U.S. troops comes from one of Iraq's most influential Shiite families and is being groomed for a major leadership role by his powerful father. Amar al-Hakim, 35, was arrested along with his bodyguards about 9 a.m. shortly after he returned to Iraq from neighboring Iran. They were taken to a U.S. military facility in Kut, and the cleric was released about 8 p.m. The guards remained in custody, Shiite officials said. Al-Hakim is being groomed by his father, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, as his successor at the helm of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, the country's largest Shiite political party and a main coalition partner in the Shiite-led government. Like his father, the younger al-Hakim has close ties to Shiite-led Iran, where he and his family spent many years in exile before they returned home after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. SCIRI is believed to have the closest ties to Iran of any major Shiite political movement — and ironically works closely with the Americans in Iraq. SCIRI was founded in Iran in 1982 by Iraqi Shiite exiles and its armed wing fought alongside Iranian forces in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War. The younger al-Hakim, 35 and the eldest of four children, studied at a Shiite seminary in the Iranian holy city of Qom. Since his return to Iraq, he often travels through the Shiite south and speaking at Shiite religious ceremonies. He established a charity organization, the Foundation of the Martyr of the Altar, in memory of his uncle and father-in-law, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, who was assassinated in a massive bombing in Najaf in August 2003. An accomplished public speaker, Amar al-Hakim spends much of his time visiting economic development projects which his charity funds and speaking to Shiite social activists throughout the Shiite south. The 2003 assassination propelled Amar al-Hakim's father into the leadership of SCIRI, continuing a long family tradition of leadership in the majority Shiite community. Most of the al-Hakim family fled to Iran after Saddam Hussein's agents killed another leading Shiite figure in 1980. About 125 members of the extended family who stayed behind were arrested and 18 executed by Saddam's regime, according to SCIRI's Web site. +++ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4It09A/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
