Abdel Aziz al-Hakim in US (for lung cancer treatment?)

[homeofthebrave]

Iraqi Shiite leader in US for medical tests

50 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The leader of one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite parties, Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, has flown to the United States for a medical check-up, according to a statement posted on his party's website.

The Washington Post, citing unnamed US officials, reported that 57-year-old Hakim was in the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston to see lung cancer specialists, but his party would not confirm this.

Hakim heads the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), which until a week ago was known as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and was founded in Iran in 1982 as an opposition movement in exile.

According to the statement, Hakim had been due for "medical examinations" for a while, but had put the visit off so he could attend a party conference earlier this week. He left for the United States on May 16, it said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070519/wl ... p5THFX6GMA