Body of revered Shiite leader arrives in Baghdad

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD – The body of a revered Shiite leader arrived Friday for burial amid tight security that saw portions of the Iraqi capital sealed off, signaling fears the funeral procession may be targeted by insurgents to stoke sectarian tensions.

The body of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim was met by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and hundreds of political and religious officials, marking the second half of a two-day funeral procession through the Shiite heartland that began in Iran and has seen thousands take to the streets in mourning.

Al-Hakim, who died Wednesday of lung cancer in Tehran, was a symbol for many of the re-emergence of Iraq's Shiite political majority after decades of oppression under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime. He worked with Americans following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion even while maintaining his ties to Iran where he lived in exile for 20 years.

"We have lost you while we are undergoing a delicate and sensitive period, and in a time when we are in need of strong men with experience and who have made great sacrifices," al-Maliki said, speaking to al-Hakim's casket shortly after it was lowered onto the tarmac at Baghdad International Airport.

"We are still confronting the remnants of a dictatorship and terrorism by those who want to hurt Iraq. ... You stood firm like a mountain in the face of the tyrants who to this day want to bring back the days of dictatorship and injustice."

Iraqi security forces closed major roads linking Baghdad's airport to government ministries in the fortified Green Zone and streets leading to one of Iraq's largest Shiite mosques where a service was scheduled for al-Hakim later Friday.

The procession, which will end with his burial in the southern holy city of Najaf, comes as insurgents have stepped up attacks that have killed hundreds in recent weeks.

Many Sunnis and some Shiites distrusted al-Hakim, seeing him as a tool of Iran in his calls for self-rule in the Shiite heartland, home to most of Iraq's oil.

Al-Hakim's death, however, has seen an outpouring of condolences from Iraq's biggest Sunni political party, Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party. Tariq al-Hashemi, Iraq's Sunni vice president, was among hundreds on hand for the arrival of al-Hakim's casket.

The death of al-Hakim has left a hole in Iraq's largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council just five months before crucial parliamentary elections.