Abdul Aziz al-Hakim died on Wednesday after being hospitalized in Tehran, the Iranian capital, after a fight against lung cancer, Humam Hamoudi and Jalaleddin al-Saghir, two senior officials from al-Hakim’s political party, said.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim

Al-Hakim had headed the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) since 2003, after his brother, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Baqer al-Hakim, was killed in a car bomb.
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim’s son, Ammar al-Hakim, is expected to be the next leader of the council.

Khalid al-Attiyah, the deputy speaker of parliament, said that al-Hakim’s death was a loss for Iraq.

“We offer our condolences to all the Iraqi people for the death of al-Hakim. He is one of the symbols of Iraq — we hope political leaders will continue his work,” he said.

Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and General Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said in a joint statement that throughout his life al-Hakim had demonstrated “courage and fortitude, contributing to the building of a new Iraq.”

Al-Hakim had largely withdrawn from the public eye since being diagnosed with cancer, but on his few public appearances he had looked increasingly frail.

The ISCI is currently part of Iraq’s ruling Shi’a alliance, which includes the Dawa party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, but earlier this week Dawa announced it was joining a new alliance for elections next January.

The party has several members in senior ministerial posts, and has influence in Iraq’s security forces, which include members of its armed affiliate, the Badr Organization.

Much of the ISCI’s support comes from the influence of the al-Hakim name, which is revered among Shi’a Muslims for its lineage of scholars and sacrifice during the rule of Saddam Hussein, the executed former president.

(AP, AFP, Reuters, BBCTV)