Assassination of Shiite leader Abdul Majeed al-Khu'ei in al-Najaf
Iraq, Politics, 4/11/2003

Political observers circles have questioned on Thursday the reasons behind the assassination of the moderate Iraqi religious figure Abdul Majeed al-Khu'ei in al-Najaf, one of the holy Shiite cities. He returned back last week as the first leader from southern Iraq to al-Najaf coming from London where he had spent 12 years as a political refugee.

The circles expressed their fears on the beginning of the series of liquidation and assassination in Iraq post- Saddam Hussein , at a time when the political scene is not clear, in a country where there is no political authority following the collapse of its capital officially on Wednesday.

Al-Khu'ei's foundation from its headquarters in London gave no details about the incident which is the first of its kind since the beginning of the war against the rule of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but said that Haidar al-Kaldar, al-Khu'ei assistant was also killed.

Al-Khu'ei, the son of the late Shiite spiritual leader in Iraq Ayatullah al-Ozm al-Khu'ei was preparing to meet with Arab journalists, but the killers attacked him together with his aid Haidar al- Kaldar and stabbed them and also fired bullets on the two until they died. The late Ayatullah al-Khu'ei, was sentenced to home arrest by the regime of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. His family, after his death, left al-Najaf for the USA and then London where the al-Khu'ei foundation for charity, social studies and research was established.

Saddam Hussein extracted the merit of the higher reference for Shiite in Iraq from the late Ayatullah, the father of the late Abdul Majeed and presented it to other Shiite scholar who support his regime.

Al- Khu'ei family members were harassed politically and religiously not only by Saddam's regime but also by Iran which supports higher religious references backing it. These included Muhammad Baqer al-Hakim, the chairman of the Higher Islamic council for the revolution in Iraq, which has Tehran as a headquarters. His council took part in most of the meetings of the Iraqi opposition abroad and the meetings with the Americans to topple the rule of Saddam Hussein.

Al-Khu'ei family are linked to firm relations with the ruling Hashamite family in Jordan. The late Jordanian King al-Hussein bin Talal had continued visits to al-Khu'ei establishment in London and the same is for his brother the former Crown Prince al-Hassan Bin Talal and the current Crown Prince Hamza Bin al-Hussein.

Previous Stories:
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  Rumsfeld briefs on the latest development in Iraq   (4/10/2003)
  Humanitarian crisis looms in Iraq because of breakdown of law and order, UN   (4/10/2003)

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