Najaf: Top Iraqi Shiite leader arrives in Najaf

The 66-year-old Hakim, who heads the Supreme Assembly for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), crossed from Iran to Iraq on Saturday and has made a three-day tour through the mainly Shiite south of the country.
The crowds of men of all ages, many waving banners and portraits of Hakim, brought the pace of the cleric’s long convoy to a crawl at some main insections as it rolled towards the centre of Najaf and the shrine of imam Ali.
Sheep were also slaughtered at several points passed by the dozens of brand-new white four-wheel drives carrying the cleric, his aides and bodyguards. Pick-ups leading the convoy tossed out leaflets declaring that Hakim was returning to his birthplace to “rebuild an Islamic Iraq”.
While greeted as a hero for his position as an influential spiritual leader among Iraq’s majority Shiite population, many are sceptical about a future role for him as a political leader who could push for an Iranian-style Islamic regime.