Hezbollah slams attempt against Hakim

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Lebanon's militant Hezbollah Monday denounced the attempt to assassinate a pro-Iranian Iraqi Shiite cleric that killed 12 people in Baghdad.

The Iranian-backed group said the "ugly crime" that targeted Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, chief of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq "is aimed at undermining the Iraqi people's unity and instigating a sectarian conflict."

"Such crime only serves and benefits the U.S. occupation forces and their administration in Washington which seeks to control Iraqi territory and Iraq's natural wealth," Hezbollah said in a statement.

Hakim escaped the attack, which also wounded 40 people.