IRAQ: ONE OF IRAQ'S TOP SHI'ITE CLERICS AYATOLLAH MOHAMMED BAQIR AL-HAKIM ARRIVES IN NAJAF

Record ID: 647368

  • Title: IRAQ: ONE OF IRAQ'S TOP SHI'ITE CLERICS AYATOLLAH MOHAMMED BAQIR AL-HAKIM ARRIVES IN NAJAF
  • Date: 12th May 2003
  • Summary: (EU) NAJAF, IRAQ (MAY 12, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV MAN HOLDING POSTER OF HAKIM ACROSS HIS CHEST / PAN TO VAN DRIVING WITH POSTER ON ITS FRONT 0.13 2. CU PLACARD WITH PICTURE OF HAKIM 0.17 3. MCU CHILD SUPPORTER OF HAKIM ADDRESSING CROWD 0.23 4. LV OF SQUARE WHERE SUPPORTERS ARE GATHERING 0.27 5. SV HAKIM ARRIVING IN VEHICLE 0.40 6. SV OF VEHICLE SURROUNDED BY CROWDS WITH OFFICIALS STANDING ATOP VEHICLE 0.47 7. LV OF CROWD GATHERED 0.50 8. LV/SV VEHICLE SURROUNDED BY CROWD PASSING THROUGH GATES (2 SHOTS) 1.08 9. LV OF CROWD CHANTING FOR HAKIM 1.14 10. SV HAKIM WALKING AMONGST CROWD 1.24 11. LV OF CROWD CHANTING THEIR SUPPORT FOR HAKIM 1.36 12. SLV HAKIM ON STAGE 1.39 13. TV OF CROWD 1.43 14. SV OF HAKIM ON STAGE, BOWING TO CROWD 1.53 15. SV MEN RAISING FISTS IN THE AIR AS THEY CHANT SUPPORT FOR HAKIM 2.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 27th May 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NAJAF, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVARGCIJFYFE2PUW5J67RNCKCN5
  • Story Text: One of Iraq's top Shi'ite clerics, Ayatollah Mohammed
    Baqir al-Hakim, has arrived in Najaf where he was welcomed by
    thousands of supporters.



    Supporters of the Shi'ite cleric gathered in Najaf on
    Monday (May 12), hours before the cleric arrived.

    Hakim's triumphant return to Iraq on Saturday (May 10)
    signals a jostling for position by the influential cleric, who
    was jailed and tortured in the 1970s for opposing Saddam
    Hussein, has headed SCIRI since 1980 in exile in Iran.

    His close ties to Iran and the armed militia known as the
    Badr Forces which he commands have aroused some alarm in
    Washington, but he has sought to play down those fears.

    His powerful Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in
    Iraq (SCIRI) belongs to a U.S.-backed Iraqi council which
    meets regularly to map out a future government post-Saddam.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register