Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the perfect middleman?

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images Al-Hayat, the leading pan-Arab daily based in London, reports the following tidbit on President Bush’s recent pow-wow with Iraqi Shi’ite leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim (my translation): Al-Hayat learned from American sources that the leader of the “Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution,” Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, conveyed a message from Tehran to the American ...

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605740_al-hakim5.jpg

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images



MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Al-Hayat, the leading pan-Arab daily based in London, reports the following tidbit on President Bush’s recent pow-wow with Iraqi Shi’ite leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim (my translation):

Al-Hayat learned from American sources that the leader of the “Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution,” Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, conveyed a message from Tehran to the American administration calling for recognition of its role in Iraq. He offered to play the role of mediator between the two sides.

I haven’t seen this reported elsewhere, but Al-Hayat tends to be reliable. The Iranian-backed Al-Hakim is well-positioned to take advantage of the Iraq Study Group’s call for negotiations with Iran. Unfortunately, however, the article says little about the White House’s reaction to his offer other than that top officials listened to al-Hakim and are willing to “study the various proposals.”

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