CPTnet
August 31, 2003
IRAQ: Death of Shiite cleric Al-Hakim

Six days ago, CPT workers in Iraq visited the site where Muhammad Baqir
Al-Hakim was died as a result of a car bomb. In Baghdad yesterday CPT
observed various demonstrations and events commemorating the life of
Ayatollah Al-hakim.

The death of the Ayatollah and eighty other Iraqis in the bombing, will
create fear and uncertainty about the future in Najaf and among Shiites.
The bombing occurred at the site of the Shrine of Ali, a direct descendent
of the Prophet Mohammed. Ali became caliph of all Muslims and moved the
government from Medina in modern day Saudi Arabia to Kufa, a town near Najaf
with a population of about 500,000. After Ali's death the center of rule
was moved to Damascus. When Ali's son Hussein began to claim the caliph
rule, he was killed in an epic battle in the region of Karbala. Since that
time, Shiite Muslims around the world have traced their founding to Ali.
Sunni Muslims trace their origins to the competing caliph in Damascus. For
Shiites, the shrine of Ali in Najaf and the shrine to Hussein in Karbala,
his son, are their most holy sites.

The timing and location of the death of Al-Hakim, who had returned form Iran
in April, resonates with the spirit of martyrdom and sacrifice so important
to Shiite tradition. Its not clear where the bomb came from, but a major
event such as this does not bode well for the American occupiers. Early in
the occupation, the US military worked out an arrangement in Najaf and
Karbala to have relatively light visibility within these cities. They now
know that security efforts have failed in the holiest places of the Shiite
faith.

In this heartland of Shiite life and thought, CPT workers found several
Human Rights groups working hard to provide a wide assortment of emergency
assistance for people who have lost jobs. One task of these groups is to
try to help provide information to families whose members have been detained
in the various clashes with with foreign troops since April of this year.

The death of Al Hakim may give ammunition to those who question the Shiites'
repeated call to give the US occupation a year to provide security and then
to turn over the national rule to Iraqis. This event could deepen the
suspicions already present between factions in Iraqi society.