President Jalal Talabani of Iraq

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Talabani has been an advocate for Kurdish rights and democracy in Iraq for more than 50 years.

Talabani has a record of lifelong activism and leadership in the Kurdish and Iraqi causes.

When in September 1961, the Kurdish revolution for the rights of the Kurds in Iraq was declared against the Baghdad government of Abdul Karim Qassem, Talabani took charge of the Kirkuk and Sulaimani battle fronts and organized and led separatist movements in Mawat, Rezan and the Karadagh regions.

Talabani has pursued a negotiated settlement to the internecine problems plaguing the Kurdish movement, as well as the larger issue of Kurdish rights in the current regional context.

Talabani was a member of the Iraqi Governing Council that negotiated the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), Iraq's interim constitution.

Talabani was elected President of Iraq on April 6, 2005 by the Iraqi National Assembly and sworn in the following day.

On February 25, 2007, Talabani was taken by a United States C-130 Hercules aircraft to Jordan for an undisclosed medical condition.

Iraq's Talabani had heart surgery", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), August 14, 2008.

While Talabani has been active in fighting for Kurdish rights most of his life, possibly even independence, he pledged himself in favour of a united Iraq following the US/British invasion.

Talabani has been a master in changing alliances all through his political life, and has several times made alliances with former enemies.

1995: With a new stability coming to Kurdistan, Talabani finds himself controlling an area with about 2 million inhabitants.

At one point Talabani had lost all his territory, but reconquered all but Irbil with the aid of Iran.

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani is named president of Iraq, becoming the first non-Arab president of an Arab country.

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani is due to be sworn in today as Iraqs new president.

the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, of which he, Talabani, is the leader, which is next door to Iran, and therefore, Jalal Talabani has a very long tradition of good relations with Iran, though, of course, he wouldnt want to talk about them now.

AMY GOODMAN: Will the northern Iraqi Kurds fight as hard for independence if Jalal Talabani is the Kurdish president of Iraq?DILIP HIRO: Well, I think its not that they will go for it now.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has extended a formal invitation to Head of Iran's Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Jalal Talabani has been president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) since the organization's founding in 1977.

IPR Strategic Business Information Database - IRAQ: TALABANI MEETS WITH SYRIAN VICE PRESIDENT.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has blasted the United States for the arrest Thursday of an Iranian and called for his immediate release.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was in a Jordanian hospital on Monday after experiencing dizziness and low blood pressure a day earlier in Iraq, his son and a physician said.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is expected to meet in the next few days with high-ranking officials from Iran and Syria, neighbors that the United States has blamed for many of Iraq's problems.

President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday he foresees Iraqi forces taking over security in all 18 provinces by the end of the year.

Iraq's new parliament, faced with the difficult task of selecting the nation's leaders, will hold its first session this weekend, President Jalal Talabani said Monday.

British troops could leave Iraq by the end of 2006, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has predicted.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has said ousted leader Saddam Hussein deserves to be executed "20 times a day" for his crimes against humanity.

Iraq President Jalal Talabani said Saturday that he hopes his country will reach the key milestone of completing a draft constitution within 24 hours -- a day before Monday's deadline.

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ERBIL, Iraq, Dec 29 (UPI) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani met officials with the Kurdistan Regional Government to discuss the status of the disputed Iraqi city of Kirkuk, officials said.

Iraqi adviser says he quit to speak against IranAug 26 - By Associated PressA former security adviser to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in comments published Tuesday that he had quit his job so he can freely speak about what he called the danger Iran poses in the Middle East.

Iraq's Talabani had heart surgery in USAug 14 - By Associated PressIraqi President Jalal Talabani was discharged Thursday from the Mayo Clinic after undergoing successful surgery on a heart valve, his office announced.

Iraqi president flies to US for medical checkJun 16 - By Associated PressIraqi President Jalal Talabani is on his way to the United States for medical treatment.

Iraqi President in Stable ConditionFeb 26 - By Jamal Halaby, Associated Press WriterIraqi President Jalal Talabani was in stable condition Monday, recuperating from exhaustion and lung inflammation at an Amman hospital, his personal physician and other officials said.

Jan 19 - By Bassem Mroue, Associated Press WriterPresident Jalal Talabani said in remarks published Friday that the Iranians were ready to meet with the US.

McCannSource: Turkishdailynews Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Monday the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) would announce a unilateral ceasefire amid Turkish threats to launch an incursion against them in northern Iraq.

troops could return home from Iraq by the end of 2008, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in an interview aired on Sunday although he proposed that several American military bases stay in Iraq.

Mr Talabani is the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two main parties controlling the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Mr Talabani has been seeking US support for federal status for Kurds in any settlement of a post-Saddam Iraq.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani commented Monday on PKK terror and said the era of violence and terror was over.

BAGHDAD, Iraq Jalal Talabani has spent a lifetime fighting for Kurdish rights, first forming a secret student association at the age of 13 and later taking up arms against the Iraqi government.

Talabani is in stable condition, and we hope he will come back to this country in a safe and healthy way, the statement said.

understanding is that Talabani had a heart attack.

And Qubad Talabani said his father underwent numerous scans, which showed his heart to be in good condition.

AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was in a Jordanian hospital on Monday after experiencing dizziness and low blood pressure a day earlier in Iraq, his son and a physician said.

The son, the senior Talabani's private doctor and a spokesman for the presidency denied reports that Talabani had a catheterization procedure on his heart.

understood that Talabani had a heart attack, an assertion that his son denied flatly.

his heart is in very good condition, Qubad Talabani said Monday.

The senior Talabani is head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two main parties that controls Iraqi Kurdistan.

As president of a restive Iraq, Jalal Talabani is at once of the world's most crucial, and most inexplicable, leaders.

Involved in politics since he was 13, Talabani is fantastically wealthy and has made what could have been a mere figurehead post into a powerful one with his 'experience, contacts, and savvy.

Talabani was elected to the largely ceremonial job of president with Shiite Adel Abdul-Mahdi and interim President Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, as vice presidents bringing Iraq a step closer to Iraq's first democratically elected government in 50 years.

President Talabani had a heart-to-heart conversation within the timeframe set for the interview.

like natural creatures of Washington.

vogue in the halls of American government.

not ready to cede the argument yet.

Jalal Talabani is the first leader of an Arab country who is not himself an Arab.

Talabani has an important say in many matters.

According to a different version, "Uncle" Talabani was given his nickname in the 1960s, when he and his comrades in the party began to take a serious interest in Marxist ideology.

Jalal Talabani was born in 1933 in the village of Kelkan, the ancestral home of the influential Talabani family, which has produced many Kurdish spiritual leaders.

Talabani was able to return to school only after the Hashemite monarchy that ruled Iraq was overthrown in 1958.

In 1964, the KDP suffered a split when Jalal Talabani had a falling out with General Barzani over their views on the Kurdish revolt.

In 1970, Talabani married Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, the daughter of the Krudish politician and writer Ibrahim Ahmed.

In 1975, the Kurdish resistance collapsed, and Jalal Talabani fled to Beirut.

Politicians who fought for the creation of an independent Greater Kurdistan are indignant that Jalal Talabani supports closer relations with Tehran, which oppresses Iran's Kurds.

In order to stop the bloodshed, a Kurdish delegation led by Jalal Talabani was sent to Baghdad.

About the situation in Iraq: " I do not want to paint an overly optimistic picture of the situation that we are facing in our country.

US President George Bush: "Jalal Talabani is the first democratically-elected president of Iraq.

President Talabani is a brave leader of the Iraqis and a friend of the United States.

Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah Gul: "Jalal Talabani is a very experienced politician.

Talabani was listed with the Kurdistani Gathering with Massoud Barazani "and a few other parties" for the December 15, 2005, Iraqi national elections.

Talabani is a veteran Kurdish leader and lawyer by training.

The deadline was extended because more time was needed to hammer out the language of the document, though a general agreement on key issues had been reached, Talabani said in a statement following a press conference.

President Jalal Talabani has paved the way for the first legal execution in Iraq since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein, the presidential office said Wednesday.

Jalal Talabani, widely referred to by Kurds as Mam (uncle) Jalal, is one of the longest-serving figures in contemporary Iraqi Kurdish politics.

Mr Talabani is the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two main Kurdish parties that dominate northern Iraq's Kurdish region.

became an important concession for the country's Shiite-majority.

Getty ImagesMorning Edition, September 26, 2006 Jalal Talabani is president of Iraq, a country that many of his fellow Kurds don't believe in.

The case is full of irony:Talabani is using a Baath Party law to sue and, possibly, close the newspaper.

Iraqi Kurds are determined to stop Kurdish rebels from using their territory for attacks on Turkey and Iran and will soon call on the militants to lay down their arms, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in an interview published Tuesday.

Talabani said relations with Turkey were of strategic importance for Iraq, stressing that all Iraqi groups were irked by the PKK attacks against Turkey and shared an absolute understanding on improving ties with Ankara.

Talabani is the founder and secretary general of one of the main Iraqi Kurdish political parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK.

The PUK suffered a severe setback when the Iraqi Government used chemical weapons against the Kurds in 1988 and Mr Talabani was forced to leave northern Iraq and seek refuge in Iran.

Eventually, Talabani has achieved high office in Baghdad, while Mr Barzani is positioned to head the autonomous Kurdish government.

The Iraqi ambassador in Jordan said for Talabani was there for a medical checkup intended to determine the reasons for his feelings of exhaustion.

He also said that Talabani had not suffered a stroke or heart attack.

He said Talabani suffered from "general fatigue and exhaustion and he needs medical examination to determine what is causing that" and dismissed that Talabani had suffered a stroke or a heart attack.

The center was chosen, the doctor said, because it "has sophisticated and modern equipment to check his condition," explaining that admission to the particular facility does not mean Talabani has a heart condition or suffered a stroke.

In Sulaimaniyah, senior Kurdish politician Barham Saleh said Talabani was on his feet when he headed for a meeting Sunday with top aides shortly before he left for Jordan.

Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), Iraqs interim constitution.

democracy, inter-ethnic harmony, equality and womens rights.

Talabani has made a point of publishing in Arabic.

He then led an armed resistance against Saddam Hussein’s regime but the PUK suffered severely when the Iraqi government used chemical weapons against the Kurds in 1988 and Talabani had to escape northern Iraq and seek refuge in Iran.

President Jalal Talabani meets US.

Baghdad, January 13 (QNA) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has conferred here with US.

The visit by President Jalal Talabani comes after a Turkish ground offensive against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.