Sadr militia killed Ayat Al-Hakim, Al-Khoei: SCIRI

By: Ismail Zabeeh

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Iraq’s main political party Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) has said Moqtada As-Sadr’s Mehdi Militia martyred Ayatullah Sayed Muhammad Baqer Al-Hakim and Sayed Abdul Majid Al-Khoei, sons of two grand late Marje of Shiite World Ayatullah Sayyid Mohsin Al-Hakim and Ayatullah Al-Khoei.

“The leadership of the Mehdi Army has been infiltrated by Baathists and terrorists and we have a list of their names,” Sheikh Qassem Al-Hashimi, a spokesman for the SCIRI told reporters on Saturday. SCIRI is now led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.

The spokesman said: “This group planned the assassination attempt against Sayed (honorific) Saddredin al-Kubbanji (Friday) and it is the same group that killed Sayed Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim and Sayed Abdul Majid al-Khoei.”

Kubbanji, the Najaf-based representative of SCIRI, escaped unscathed an attempt on his life as he finished giving the weekly sermon at the Imam Ali (p) shrine in the holy city of Najaf. Hashimi said Kubbanji has been receiving death threats for the past two months, which is how long Najaf has been held at the mercy of the militia.

Ayatullah Baqer Al-Hakim, founder of SCIRI and its former leader, was martyred in a massive car bomb attack at the holy shrine of Imam Ali bin Abi Taleb (p) in August 2003 while Khoei was stabbed to death near the shrine in April 2003.

Sadr is wanted by the US-led coalition in Iraq in connection with Khoei's murder.

“Both the Mehdi Army and the Sadr movement are plagued by chaos and lack of leadership and many of its members have nothing but utter disrespect for the Marjaiyah (religious authority),” said Hashimi.

He called on Sadr's militia to leave Najaf “as soon as possible”, as demanded two weeks ago by the office of the Ayatullah Ali As-Sistani. Homes and offices of Ayatullah Sistani and Ayatullah Bashir An-Najafi were also recently attacked by gunfire.

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