Jalal Talabani, a former president of Iraq and a Kurdish political leader, passed away Tuesday at the age of 83, according to family members.
Family members said Talabani had died Tuesday in a hospital in German capital Berlin following a long struggle with illness.
Talabani was born on Nov. 12, 1933, in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah.
He was elected president of post-invasion Iraq in 2005 and was re-elected for a second term in 2010.
Talabani is also the founder of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party, of which he had served as secretary-general.
An article in the Guardian appears to imply that Talabani's wife publicly supported the Kurdish referendum shortly before her husband passed away. This has led some to question whether the political position and private convictions of the former President were aligned on the question of Kurdish Indpendence from Iraq.
- Britain's Colonial Legacy in Iraq, 85 Years After Independence
- Iraq Allows Foreigners in Kurdish Region to Leave Via Baghdad
This article has been adapted from its original source.
