Ammar al-Hakim picked to lead SIIC

BAGHDAD, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council unanimously elected Ammar al-Hakim as its next leader Tuesday, succeeding his late father at the influential post.

Ammar al-Hakim had assumed de facto leadership role in the influential movement earlier this year when the health of his father Abdul Aziz al-Hakim deteriorated. The elder Hakim passed away on Wednesday in Tehran from complications due to lung cancer.

The central committee for SIIC announced in Iraq that Ammar was elected as the next leader of the movement in accordance with governing policies, the Voices of Iraq news agency reports.

Humam Hamoudi, a SIIC lawmaker in the Iraqi Foreign Affairs Committee, told the semiofficial Fars News Agency in Iran that Ammar was the logical choice for the leadership position.

"Ammar is a knowledgeable and mighty person and is competent for leading the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council," he said.

The elder Hakim was one of the founding fathers of post-invasion Iraq, leading SIIC to power alongside the Dawa Party of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Members of SIIC joined forces with the Sadrist Movement, a party loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, and Sunni factions to form the Iraqi National Alliance, a party expected to mount a challenge to Maliki in the January elections.