al-Hakim visits Tehran, calls for U.S.-Iran talks on Iraq

Shi'ite cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, meets Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran. Hakim, one of Iraq's most important Shi'ite politicians, spent years in exile in Iran before returning to Iraq. In December, Hakim met with Bush in Washington, shortly before the administration attempted to coordinate Prime Minister Maliki's ouster with Hakim chosen by Washington to be the power-broker behind the scenes.Prime Minister Maliki and President Tablabani have also made recent trips to Iran.

TEHRAN, Iran: A prominent Iraqi Shiite leader on Monday said Iraqi officials have demanded that Iran and the United States hold talks to help quell the violence tearing apart his country, Iran's state-run news agency reported.

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Shiite bloc in the 275-member Iraqi parliament, said negotiations between the two countries, which have not had diplomatic relations in more than a quarter century, would be "very important."

"Negotiations between Iran and the United States would benefit the whole region," the news agency, IRNA, quoted al-Hakim, who has close ties to Iran, as saying during a visit to Tehran.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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