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When Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim succumbed to lung cancer on Aug. 26, his death could have left Iraq's largest Shi'ite political party in turmoil - if it weren't for a son that had been long groomed to take his father's place. Ammar al-Hakim was confirmed as the Iranian-backed SIIC's next leader this week and will begin his work promoting Shi'ite policies throughout the country. With elections expected in January and U.S. troops beginning their Iraq drawdown, the country stands at a critical point. Al-Hakim's ascent...
...what I meant by 'national interests,' " Justice Secretary Jack Straw wrote in February 2008, during an exchange of letters about al-Megrahi with Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond. "Developing a strong relationship with Libya, and helping it to reintegrate into the international community, is good for the U.K." He added, "Libya is one of only two countries to have ever voluntarily and transparently dismantled its weapons of mass destruction program. Having sponsored terrorist attacks in the past, it is now an important partner in the fight against terrorism." (Read "Lockerbie Bomber Returns to Cheers in Libya...
...Libya repeatedly warned Britain of "catastrophic effects" for their relationship if al-Megrahi died in jail - the alarmist phrase also emerges in the minutes of the March 2009 Glasgow meeting. Ministers in Westminster duly conveyed these threats to Edinburgh. Labour and the Scottish Nationalists are fierce opponents. "The British government have a better relationship with [Libyan leader Colonel Muammar] Gaddafi than they do with Scotland," says Ed Owen, a former special adviser to Straw. But Scottish politicians could not ignore the overlap between Scottish and U.K. interests. Instead, they devised a plan to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, rather...
...Owen believes "the British government became so deeply embedded in the negotiations [to solve the al-Megrahi problem] that they lost sight of the likely domestic political response and the wider diplomatic context," including the predictable anger of the U.S. A Sept. 1 letter written by Richard LeBaron, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in London, to authorities in Scotland withholds consent for Washington's "government-to-government" correspondence to be made public but reiterates "the United States Government's consistent and long-standing view that Mr. Megrahi should serve out his prison sentence in Scotland...
...world are affected," says former special adviser Owen. The star guests at the Sept. 1 celebration in Tripoli to mark the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Gaddafi to power were two of the world's most controversial leaders: Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Western leaders were notable by their absence. (Read "Lockerbie Bomber's Release Casts a Shadow Over Gaddafi Celebration...