29 Aug 2003 19:36:21 GMT
Iran: U.S.-led security failure behind Hakim death
(Updates with Iranian government and Supreme Leader reaction)
TEHRAN, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Iran condemned the killing on Friday of the head of a leading Iraqi Shi'ite group, which had Iranian backing, blaming his death on the failure of U.S.-led occupiers to provide security, Iranian media reported.
A senior Iranian official earlier told Reuters the killing of Mohammed Baqer Al-Hakim, who was among scores killed by a car bomb in the Iraqi city of Najaf, would only benefit those who wanted an unstable Iraq.
Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), had been exiled in Iran for more than two decades before returning to Iraq in May.
"The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while condemning this violent and blind act, holds occupying forces in Iraq directly responsible, which based on international principles are responsible for preserving security in Iraq," Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted a statement as saying.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced three days of mourning, Iran's students' news agency ISNA reported.
"The martyrdom of (Hakim)...is a grave catastrophe for the Iraqi nation and is another document of the occupiers' crimes which have imposed insecurity and chaos on Iraq with their illegitimate presence," Khamenei was quoted as saying.
Iran was officially neutral in the U.S.-led war on Iraq, but welcomed the fall of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who fought an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s.
Iran has also condemned the U.S. occupation of the country, while the United States has warned Iran not to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs.
"I believe the only people to profit from his martyrdom are those who do not want a stable and independent Iraq," Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi told Reuters.
SCIRI had been criticised by some groups for cooperating with the U.S. military occupation and Hakim had been viewed by Washington as a stabilising influence in post-war Iraq.
"Hakim had made a few statements saying an Iranian-style theocracy was not suitable for Iraq and put distance between himself and his Iranian backers," said one diplomat in Tehran.
But some analysts said Hakim's death would be a blow to Iran, which had nurtured him and his group since the 1980s.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BL2976022.htm