Iraq
Mohammad Baqr al-Hakim
Mohammad Baqr al-Hakim
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| Muqtada al-Sadr |
| Ayad Allawi |
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| Ayatollah Mohammad Baqr al-Hakim
Baqr al-Hakim (1940-2003) died in his birthplace, the holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq. He was killed by a bomb. He was one of Iraq's best-known Shia Muslim figures. In the 1970's Hakim was imprisoned and tortured as an opposition leader in Iraq. In 1980 he fled to Iran where at the time, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was setting up a Shia Islamic state. He spent more than two decades in exile. From Iran, he headed the Supreme Assembly for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), one of the main Shia Muslim groups. He controlled the Badr brigade, Sciri's armed wing, which had an estimated 10,000-15,000 fighters. His militias waged a low-level war of ambushes, sabotage, and assassinations against the Iraqi regime. In 1991, after the first Gulf War, President Bush senior encouraged Iraqis to rise up against their leader. The Badr brigades crossed the border into Najaf and rose in revolt. Lacking US support, they were brutally suppressed. Sciri boycotted the first US-sponsored meeting of Iraqi factions in April 2003. In May 2003, Baqr al-Hakim returned to Iraq in triumph, just after major combat operations were declared over by the US. Thousands of Shia Muslims welcomed him back to Najaf. He advocated a modern Islamic state that rejects religious extremism and is independent of foreign powers. |