40th day of Ayat Al-Hakim’s martyrdom marked in Iraq

By: Ismail Zabeeh

HOLY CITY OF NAJAF, Iraq: The fortieth day of Ayatullah Sayyed Muhammad Baqer Al-Hakim’s martyrdom was marked in Iraq on Friday with an estimated 50,000 people thronged in the holy city of Najaf for memorial services.

Ayatullah Baqer Al-Hakim (late), son of eminent Marje Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Mohsin Al-Hakim (late) who possessed a lofty status in the Shiite world, was martyred along with about 125 others in a deadly car bombing in August outside the holy Shrine of Al-Imam Ali iibn-e-Abi Talib (as) in this holy city.

The crowd marched into the city chanting anti-Saddam slogans, some people beating their chests in mourning. Others chanted pledges of support for the martyred Ayatullah’s brother Abdol Aziz Al-Hakim, who took over the leadership of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) after him.

‘Aziz, you are the leader’ and 'We vow for Abdol Aziz” the mourners chanted as green and black Islamic flags fluttered in the air by Al-Hakim's grave at Revolution Square in the heart of Najaf.

Black flags of mourning were strung on buildings throughout Najaf.

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Baghdad demo demands apology for preacher detention

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Several dozen Iraqi protestors on Wednesday took over a police station across from the Ali Kazem Al-Bayai mosque in southwestern Baghdad, where they gathered against the brief detention Tuesday of their preacher Moayed Al-Khazraji.

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Iraq News