Monday, December 27, 2004

Shi'ite leader targeted

A suicide bomber detonated his car Monday at the gate to the home of the leader of Iraq's biggest political party, killing and wounding several of the guards but leaving the cleric unharmed, his spokesman said.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq - the country's most powerful Shiite political group - was in his residence in Baghdad's Jadiriyah district when the attack occurred, said Haitham al-Husseini. He was unharmed.
Guardian article

The former head of SCIRI, Abdul's older brother, was assassinated last year.

I find this a little curious:

The residence, where Hakim has his home and offices, was previously the house of Tariq Aziz, a jailed former senior aide to Saddam Hussein who has been in prison since April last year.

Did Aziz put his home up for sale and Hakim bought it? Somehow I doubt that. Did somebody divvy up Sunni property as war proceeds? Are the U.S. military forces still camped out in Hussein's palace? Could any of these details be problematic?

Maybe I should be asking how Aziz came by the property in the first place. Perhaps he didn't acquire it legitimately. I don't know. It would be interesting information to have, I think.

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