Firebrand Shiite cleric opposed to Kurdish claims dead in ISIS fighting

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Wathiq al-Battat, a firebrand Shiite Iraqi cleric and militia leader known for his anti-Kurdish rhetoric and vehemently anti-Sunni diatribes,  was killed in fighting with the Islamic State (ISIS) north of Baghdad on Sunday.

Al-Battat’s militia had been fighting ISIS on different fronts, particularly in northern Diyala province, since the jihadis captured Iraq’s Sunni provinces last summer.

Al-Battat was reportedly killed in confrontations with ISIS militants near the Uzem district that lies between Baghdad and Kirkuk.

The hardliner opposed any Kurdish claim over Kirkuk, saying that “Kirkuk is a red line and the Kurds have no right to cross that line.” He was also against a Kurdish referendum for independence, especially in the so-called “disputed territories” over which no claim has been decided.

“We will counter the Kurds as we counter ISIS,” he said earlier this year. “Kirkuk is an Iraqi city and if they want it there will be a sea of blood between us.”

Al-Battat was wanted by the Iraqi authorities. Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered his arrest last year for “causing sectarian war with his militia group.”

The militia leader however, defied the law and continued his diehard Shiite agenda, often appearing in the local media.

Earlier this year he threatened to expand his fight against ISIS to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, countries he accused of helping the jihadis.

In the early 1990s he spent a number of years in Iran, where he became a member of the Iraqi Hezbollah and later its leader.