Officials from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq have refused Monday to accuse any specific side or party of being behind the assassination attempt against their prominent cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Said al Hakim in the holy city of Najaf Sunday. Mohammad Said al Hakim is the uncle of Ayatollah Mohammad Bakar al Hakim, the current leader of the Shiite political party. However, they did warn of an organized plan targeting influential Shiite leaders in Iraq.
Hakim sustained a slight neck injury in the attempt against his life, which resulted in the death of two of his personal escorts and one other, while another 10 were wounded including some of his guards. The unknown assailant(s) used a gas cylinder that was exploded near the fence of Hakim’s house.
His son – Riyad Hakim - told Al Bawaba via telephone from his office in the Iranian City of Qumm, “Ayatollah Mohammad Said al Hakim (his father) is feeling well now.” Although he refused to accuse any specific side of being behind this attempt, he did confirm that investigations into the attack are now underway.
“We cannot determine who is behind the attack now. Investigations are underway and the concerned agencies in Najaf are still investigating the incident,” Hakim’s son said.
The prominent Shiite leader was transferred to a safe place following the assassination attempt. A spokesperson for the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SAIRI), did not rule out the possibility that the toppled Iraqi president’s advocates or other ‘dubious’ parties might have been behind the attack.
The Council’s spokesperson, Mohsen al Hakim, echoed the same thoughts as the leader’s son, also saying that Ayatollah al Hakim is now in a safe place that he was transferred to after the attempt.
When asked about which side the council officials suspect as masterminding the assassination attempt, he replied, “so far the investigations have not been completed. It is perhaps too early to accuse anybody but there is a possibility that the toppled regime’s remnants or other dubious parties may have been behind the attempt.”
The spokesperson warned against what he described as organized killings that target influential Shiite authorities and figures, calling upon the concerned Iraqi and US agencies to take the matter more seriously.
Last April, unknown assailants assassinated Sayyed Abdel Majeed al Khoei, a prominent Shiite cleric in Najaf. Later that month, armed men described as ‘tribesmen’ besieged the house of Ayatollah Ali al Sistani. Moreover, a man carrying a knife attacked a worker at Sistani’s office last month; this is in addition to other attacks and threats against several prominent Shiite figures.
“The repeated incidents indicate to us that there is an organized plan to strike against the powerful Shiite leaders in Iraq. Therefore we cannot rule out the possibility of it being implemented by dubious elements or the Ba’athists themselves,” said the Supreme Court’s spokesperson. He also indicated that close aides to Ayatollah al Hakim have received death threats in the past reiterating that unknown persons have also struck against one of those aides, Amjad al Ebari.
Earlier, advisor to Abdel Aziz al Hakim, member of the Iraqi Governing Council, described the attempt on said al Hakim’s life as an attempt at creating divisions between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims in Iraq. “We suspect that members of the former Ba’ath party and Saddam Hussein’s loyalists would like to see a war between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims,” he said.
It is noteworthy to mention that Ayatollah Mohammad Said al Hakim is one of the four more prominent Shiite clerics in Najaf that include Ayatollah Sistani, Ayatollah Mohammad Isaac Fayyadh and Ayatollah Bashir al Najafi. He is also the uncle Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al Hakim – the current chief of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq – also criticized by Shiites for his cooperation with the American led administration in Iraq and for his acceptance of a seat on the Iraqi Governing Council.
