IRAQ: THOUSANDS OF SHI'ITE MOURNERS ATTEND FUNERAL FOR THEIR SLAIN CLERIC AYATOLLAH MOHAMMED BAQIR AL-HAKIM IN HILLA

Record ID: 646912

  • Title: IRAQ: THOUSANDS OF SHI'ITE MOURNERS ATTEND FUNERAL FOR THEIR SLAIN CLERIC AYATOLLAH MOHAMMED BAQIR AL-HAKIM IN HILLA
  • Date: 1st September 2003
  • Summary: (W5) HILLA 90 KM SOUTH OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ (SEPTEMBER 1, 2003) (REUTERS- ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS: THE COFFIN OF AL-HAKIM ARRIVING BY TRUCK AT HILLA (4 SHOTS) 0.25 2. VARIOUS TOP VIEWS OF THE COFFIN ON TRUCK AT HILLA YARD (3 SHOTS) 0.52 3. VARIOUS WOMEN AND MEN WEEPING ON THE LOSE OF THEIR CLERIC (6 SHOTS) 1.23 4. SV/SCU: A MAN CARRYING PICTURE FOR AL-HAKIM AND BEATING HIMSELF (2 SHOTS) 1.38 5. MV/SV: MOURNERS BEATING THEIR CHESTS (2 SHOTS) 1.48 6. VARIOUS OF MOURNERS LINING THE ROAD TO RECEIVE THE FUNERAL PROCESSION (2 SHOTS) 2.03 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 16th September 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HILLA, 90KM SOUTH OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVA6T9YBFR9JXGMVDLCG7QGCNED4
  • Story Text: A solemn funeral procession remembering slain cleric
    Mohammed Baqir Al-Hakim has been held in Hilla, south of
    Baghdad.


    Thousands of Shi'ite mourners attended a funeral
    procession for their cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir
    Al-Hakim held in Hilla 90 km south of Baghdad on Monday
    (September 1).

    Hakim was killed in a car bomb that ripped through a
    crowd of worshippers at the holy shrine of Imam Ali on
    Friday. The mourners arrived in Hilla south of Baghdad,
    then they will travel to Najaf where he will be buried on
    Tuesday. The mourners carrying pictures of the slain
    al-Hakim, beat their chests and shouted "God is the
    greatest".

    A car bomb that killed a key U.S. ally from Iraq's
    Shi'ite majority and dozens of fellow Muslims at the
    nation's holiest shrine after Friday prayers leaves no
    doubt that Washington faces an uphill task in creating a
    stable Iraq.

    At least 90 people were killed and about double that
    number wounded in the explosion at the Imam Ali mosque in
    the holy city of Najaf 180 km south of the capital. It is
    the most sacred site for Shi'ites, who form a 60 percent
    majority of Iraq's population.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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