Abdul Aziz al-Hakim

Ayatollah Abdul Aziz al-Hakim (/ˈɑːbdʊl əˈziːz æl həˈkiːm/ (listen) AHB-duul ə-ZEEZ al hə-KEEM; Arabic: سید عبد العزيز الحكيم;‎ 1952 – 26 August 2009) was an Iraqi theologian and politician and the leader of SCIRI, the largest political party in the Iraqi National Assembly.

He was a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and served as its president in December 2003. Brother of the Shia leader Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, he replaced him as leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq when Mohammed Baqir was assassinated in August 2003 in Najaf.

He was born in 1953, the son of Grand Ayatollah Muhsin Al-Hakim, the spiritual leader of the world's Shi'a from 1955-1970. He played a leading role in the Safar Intifada in 1977 and was imprisoned in 1972, 1977 and 1979. He went into exile in Iran in 1980, where he was a founder member in 1982 of SCIRI and headed their military wing, the Badr Brigade. He the top candidate listed for the United Iraqi Coalition during the first Iraqi legislative election of January 2005 but has not sought a government post because the Alliance had decided not to include theologians in the government.

Sources

• Background