"Independence is our greatest priority ... Iraqis must be able to decide on their future," Hakim said.

SHALAMSHEH, Iran-Iraq Border, May 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – After 23 years of exile in Iran, Iraq's top Shiite leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim returned home Saturday, May 10.

Greeted by flowers from thousands of his faithful, the 64-year-old head of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), crossed through this desert border post 10 kilometers east of Iraq's southern capital Basra at 9:40 am (0640 GMT), Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"Yes, Yes, Islam ... Yes, Yes, Hakim…Sunnis, Shiites, no difference ... all united behind Islam," chanted the jubilant crowd , with sheep being slaughtered to mark Hakim's arrival.

An aide to Hakim said the convoy of four-wheel drive vehicles would over the coming days tour the southern Iraqi cities of Basra and An-Nasariyah, before the ayatollah returns to his birthplace in the Shiite holy city of An-Najaf.

Hakim was not immediately scheduled to travel to Baghdad, the aide said.

SAIRI officials said Hakim was protected by bodyguards of the group's armed wing, the Badr Brigade, which has been accused of trying to infiltrate from Iran to spread Iranian influence across Iraq, something Tehran denies.

A welcoming ceremony was to be held at SAIRI offices recently set up in a former Basra theatre.

Ayatollah Hakim's movements over the coming weeks are likely to be closely watched by both the U.S and Britain, which are concerned he might try and push for an Iranian-style regime in Baghdad, said BBC News Online.

Iraq's Future

Hakim made a final speech in exile during Friday prayers in Tehran, telling the worshippers that Iraq's future belongs to Islam.

"There is no time now for me to talk to you in detail about the future of Iraq, but I tell you the future of Iraq belongs to Islam," he said, committing himself to that struggle.

"Independence is our greatest priority ... Iraqis must be able to decide on their future, something they have not been able to do up to now," he added.

The opposition chief had originally been set to return to Iraq on April 28, but his trip was canceled without explanation.

Shiite Muslims form about 60 percent of Iraq's population and are most highly concentrated in the south, said the AFP.

They went virtually unrepresented in the regime of former president Saddam Hussein.

Hakim's brother and deputy, Abdul Aziz, has been in the country since April 16 and has represented the movement at meetings of the former Iraqi opposition working toward setting up an interim government in Iraq.

Abdul Aziz is a member of the U.S.-sanctioned Iraqi leadership council which also groups Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani, Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), U.S.-backed Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress, and Iyad Allawi of the Iraqi National Accord, a representative of al-Da’wa Party and Naseer Kamel Chaderchi as a representative of the Sunni Arabs.

While SAIRI objects to the presence of U.S. and British forces in Iraq, it has taken the pragmatic decision to participate in the process of establishing an interim Iraqi government.

But Mullah Abu Ahmed, SAIRI chief in Basra, said that future participation depended on Washington’s respect of the Iraqi people's wishes and on an agenda that was not contrary to their interests.