Jeanne at Body and Soul has asked for more information on Abdelaziz Al Hakim, a Shiite now sitting on the new Iraqi Governing Council.
Via Juan Cole;
Abdelaziz Al Hakim, a leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (and head of the paramilitary Badr Corps)
More on the Badr Corps from FAS;
It started as a brigade and developed into a division and then into a corps. The Badr Corps consist of thousands of former Iraqi officers and soldiers who defected from the Iraqi army, Iraqi refugees and POWs. A mutual agreement has been signed by SCIRI with The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) headed by Jalal Talabani to work against Saddam’s regime. A similar agreement was signed with the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) headed by Masood Barzani several years ago.
As for connections to Chalabi’s INC I’d guess they go as deeply as either side finds beneficial to their respective ambitions.
Jeanne described Chalabi as…well you read it…and I completely agree.
It could be the reason this loose cannon who can’t be trusted is now sitting on the council. He doesn’t fit the Bush & Co. profile of usual suspects tapped to fill these kinds of positions. Not pliable enough.
‘One picture is worth a thousand words.’