Late Iraqi Shi'ite's son succeeds him as party leader

By Suadad al-Salhy

One of Iraq's main Shi'ite Muslim parties on Tuesday appointed the son of its leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim as his successor after his death last week, averting a potentially damaging public power struggle.

Ammar al-Hakim had been groomed for some time to take over the influential Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI) from his father, who died in Tehran where he had been receiving treatment for lung cancer. The cleric was buried over the weekend in the holy Iraqi Shi'ite city of Najaf.

His death cast fresh uncertainty over Iraqi politics at a time when alliances among Iraq's majority Shi'ites are shifting ahead of a parliamentary election in January, and when recent progress toward stability has been rocked by bomb attacks.

"Voting for Ammar al-Hakim is normal because of the symbolism of his family name and the sacrifices that the family made," said ISCI lawmaker Nabil Ismail, who said Ammar al-Hakim had been picked by the party's advisory council.

The swift confirmation by the council of ISCI leaders that Ammar al-Hakim would take over indicated the party had managed to avoid a power struggle, at least in public, that could have weakened it before the election.

Some party insiders had said they opposed a dynastic succession while Ammar al-Hakim's youth - he was born in 1971 - also raised questions about his support base.

"We will work hard to make ISCI achieve a distinguished position in the political process in Iraq, with the help of all other political powers," Ammar al-Hakim said in a statement broadcast on ISCI-owned television.

"We will work to achieve the highest levels of cooperation and harmony among the leadership of ISCI to succeed in this major task." He said the party would work to bring Iraqis together.

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ISCI has fought previous elections on an overtly religious, and sectarian, platform, using Shi'ite religious symbolism as a rallying call.

Political analysts say that after years of bloodshed between Sunnis and Shi'ites, many voters have grown tired of appeals to faith, and instead want rulers who are pragmatic and effective.

ISCI has formed a new, mostly Shi'ite alliance to compete in January's national polls without Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's smaller Dawa party, raising questions about possible fractures among Shi'ites.

ISCI was founded in Iran in exile during Iraqi Sunni leader Saddam Hussein's rule. It has close ties to Iran's rulers.

It and Maliki's Dawa party swept to power in 2005 polls as part of a broad Shi'ite coalition, but the relationship has frayed, particularly after Maliki's allies scored victories in provincial elections this year, largely at the expense of ISCI.