Plot foiled against SIIC leader Hakim

BAGHDAD, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Iraqi security forces claimed they thwarted an alleged assassination attempt on Ammar al-Hakim, the leader of the influential Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

Iraqi forces said they uncovered a plot by al-Qaida affiliates in Iraq to assassinate the Shiite leader while he delivered Eid al-Fitr prayers at a Baghdad mosque Sept. 21, Iran's state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.

Officers with the Iraqi Ministry of Intelligence received information that al-Qaida forces were working on the assassination attempt prior to the Monday sermon, Hakim's office said.

Hakim was elected Sept. 1 to head the influential SIIC following the death of his father and former leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim in August.

Hakim during his Eid address to supporters warned of attempts to undermine the unity effort in Iraq.

"We believe that there are agendas exercised by some inside and outside Iraq to destroy the unity and divide us," he said.

SIIC is expected to lead the newly formed grand unity slate Iraqi National Alliance in the January national elections in Iraq, vetting several candidates as possible challengers to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.