Talabani's health scare adds to Iraq uncertainty
Source: Agencies |
December 19, 2012, Wednesday
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IRAQI President Jalal Talabani was being treated in a Baghdad hospital under intensive care yesterday after suffering a stroke, injecting new uncertainty into the country's political future.
Iraqi state TV and several officials, including the prime minister's spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, confirmed the nature of Talabani's illness. The seriousness of the stroke is unclear.
Although his political powers are limited, Talabani, 79, is respected by many Iraqis as a rare unifying figure able to rise above the ethnic and sectarian rifts that still dog the country. Known for his joking manner and walrus-like moustache, Talabani has been involved in trying to mediate an ongoing crisis between Iraq's central government and the Kurdish minority, from which he hails.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari denied local media reports that Talabani had died. He and the president's office described Talabani's condition as stable.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has visited the hospital to check on Talabani's condition, said his spokesman, Ali al-Moussawi.
Rifle-toting soldiers assigned to the presidential guard were deployed around Medical City, Baghdad's largest medical complex, where Talabani is being treated. Talabani's office said the president had been taken to the hospital on Monday evening after showing signs of fatigue, though it did not release the news until yesterday morning.
It initially said he was being treated for an unspecified health problem. A later statement cited tests showing he is suffering from an unnamed condition caused by a hardening of his arteries.
Word of Talabani's illness comes exactly a year after the last United States troops rolled out of Iraq. Their departure on December 18, 2011, ended a nearly nine-year invasion that left over 100,000 Iraqis and nearly 4,500 Americans dead.
Iraqi state TV and several officials, including the prime minister's spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, confirmed the nature of Talabani's illness. The seriousness of the stroke is unclear.
Although his political powers are limited, Talabani, 79, is respected by many Iraqis as a rare unifying figure able to rise above the ethnic and sectarian rifts that still dog the country. Known for his joking manner and walrus-like moustache, Talabani has been involved in trying to mediate an ongoing crisis between Iraq's central government and the Kurdish minority, from which he hails.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari denied local media reports that Talabani had died. He and the president's office described Talabani's condition as stable.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has visited the hospital to check on Talabani's condition, said his spokesman, Ali al-Moussawi.
Rifle-toting soldiers assigned to the presidential guard were deployed around Medical City, Baghdad's largest medical complex, where Talabani is being treated. Talabani's office said the president had been taken to the hospital on Monday evening after showing signs of fatigue, though it did not release the news until yesterday morning.
It initially said he was being treated for an unspecified health problem. A later statement cited tests showing he is suffering from an unnamed condition caused by a hardening of his arteries.
Word of Talabani's illness comes exactly a year after the last United States troops rolled out of Iraq. Their departure on December 18, 2011, ended a nearly nine-year invasion that left over 100,000 Iraqis and nearly 4,500 Americans dead.
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