Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim heads the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Based in Iran for two decades before the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Husseins regime in 2003, al-Hakim led the Badr Brigades, the military wing of SCIRI, in a violent cross border struggle against Iraqi forces.
This criminal deserves the death penalty, the highest punishment, al-Hakim told Shiite Muslim students taking part in a rally in Baghdad.
Al-Hakims comments came as Hussein and seven co-defendants appeared in court to face charges of involvement in the 1982 killing of 148 people in the Shiite Muslim town of Dujail.
The SCIRI chiefs close Iranian ties and growing influence in Iraq has led many to fear that Iraq was heading toward closer ties with Iran, and, possibly, the establishment of a government based on Iran’s theocratic model.
