Iraqi security forces arrest Shiite militia leader

The Interior Ministry spokesman, Saad Maan Ibrahim, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Wathiq al-Batat, the leader of the so-called Mukhtar Army, was arrested in Baghdad on Wednesday. Al-Batat last year formed his Iranian-backed militia to protect Shiites from attacks by Sunni extremists. Earlier, he was a leader in Iraq's Hezbollah Brigades, which is not related to the better-known Lebanese Hezbollah. MORE