Word: als
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...year-old wears the black turban of those who claim descent from the Prophet Muhammad. From the age of 9, he would address thousands of Shi'ite faithful at mosques and religious festivals in Iran, where his family was exiled in 1979 by Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime. Al-Hakim was educated in Iran's theological colleges...
...While in exile, al-Hakim's uncle and father formed the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (formerly the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq) during the Iran-Iraq War. Al-Hakim's father returned to Iraq in April 2003, a year after the U.S. invasion, and the SIIC quickly rose to prominence there...
...Since his father's diagnosis of lung cancer in May 2007, the younger al-Hakim has been in charge of the party's day-to-day activities. He has worked to create a "strategic alliance between Najaf and Washington." Najaf, about two hours south of Baghdad, is the holiest city for the world's Shi'ites, who make up 60% of Iraq's population...
...Reeling from losses in local elections to Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's followers early this year, members of the SIIC joined forces in August with the Sadrists and Sunni factions to form the Iraqi National Alliance - excluding Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party. The Alliance is expected to mount a challenge to al-Maliki in the January 2010 elections. (Read "With U.S. Pullout, Iraq Takes Ownership...
...Al-Hakim's Shaheed al-Mihrab Foundation has erected 400 mosques in Iraq since 2003 and has opened a chain of schools in Najaf. The foundation also recruits people to the SIIC by paying for marriages, giving gifts and cash to newlyweds and offering free education at the schools...