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Mike Segar / Reuters, file
Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, seen here in September 2011, is in the hospital for a medical 'emergency'.
Updated at 9:45 a.m. ET: BAGHDAD - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani -- a Kurd who has been a key player in mediating during the country's political crisis -- was in hospital on Tuesday after suffering a stroke that left him in "stable" condition, a lawmaker said.
Three un-named government sources said he was in critical condition, but his office said the 79-year-old president was stable under intensive medical supervision after receiving treatment for blocked arteries.
Without Talabani, Iraq would lose an influential peace-maker who often eased tensions in the fragile power-sharing government and negotiated in the growing rift over oil between Baghdad and the OPEC member country's autonomous Kurdistan region.
"President Talabani has suffered a light stroke. His condition is stable now and doctors are closely monitoring him and if they decide he should be transferred outside then he'll go," veteran Kurdish politician Mahmoud Othman, a close Talabani associate who was in the Baghdad hospital.
Talabani had been suffering from ill health much of this year and received medical treatment overseas several times in the last two years.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited the hospital earlier on Tuesday.
Blasts hit Iraq's Kirkuk, disputed territories
Under Iraq's constitution, the parliament should elect a new president if the post becomes vacant and Iraq's power-sharing deal calls for the presidency to go to a Kurd while two vice presidents are shared by a Sunni Muslim and a Shi'ite Muslim.
Political analysts said former Kurdistan prime minister Barham Salih is favored candidate to replace Talabani should the president be incapacitated.
But his exit from Iraqi politics would come at a sensitive time and any succession would be complicated, a year after the last American troops left the country.
One year after the U.S. military pullout, Iraq teeters between statehood and failure. NBC News' Jim Maceda reports.
"He is the most moderate among Iraqi politicians and the most able to defuse political shocks. I do not think any one will be able to fill his position as a president and as a politician," Iraqi analyst Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie said.
Iraq law would see one of the vice presidents take over Talabani's duties before the parliamentary vote. But Iraq's Sunni Vice President, Tareq al-Hashemi, is a fugitive outside of the country after he fled to escape charges he ran death squads. He was sentenced to death in absentia.
A veteran of the Kurdish guerrilla movement, Talabani survived wars, exile and infighting in northern Iraq to become the country's first Kurdish president a few years after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
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Leave a Comment:
sorr yot hear he is in bad shape,no sense in wishing ill health here.I would like to say the whole country is in critical condition and not so stable at best.
jj,
Clueless shallow American here.
If he cannot continue, maybe we can appoint Romney over there to straighten things out? Heh heh.
jjthe3rd j in-line with 2j's but 1 after the 2nd j that doesn't exist. Hmmmm.... Or maybe I'm just clueless. however, "jj", you need some "American" punctuation and some "American" spell check which MSNBC does supply for your use "IF" you know how to use it.
Personally, I think you're the one who's clueless. Did they have an election that showed this guy received the most votes or did "America" say, "This is the guy that will be your next President!"
BTW;
You may want to do some research before you spew out of that hole in front of your head....
Have a nice day...
Aren't there still about 40,000 Americans there?
Just not combat soldiers but trainers and embassy security and contractors?
Previously reported stroke due to hardening of arteries. Now news reports Presaident Talibani has died from the stroke he suffered. A real Kurd from the old stock- he should be remembered for his never ending faith in overcoming obstacles. A great loss for Kurdistan federation a greater loss for Iraq. )http://presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/18/2787671/iraqi-president-dies-after-stroke).
He may have had more than one stroke; one with worse effects than the other(s).
Sometimes blood clots may trigger a stroke, heart attack, or other serious problem during or after a catheterization. http://voices.yahoo.com/heart-catheterization-complications-risks-benefits-5139477.html?cat=69
"A veteran of the Kurdish guerrilla movement, Talabani survived wars, exile and infighting in northern Iraq to become the country's first ever Kurdish president a few years after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein."
One can't say whether these leaders are useful or useless in a mad Islamic hell hole like Iraq.
At least he does not look normal!
Does anybody know how to get rid of these "effin" ads that keep popping up in the middle of what I'm trying to read?
The press cant even get the players right. They never have been able to get the story right. Kurds are a cultural group. Shia and Sunni are a religious subset. Most Kurdish people are Sunni Muslim. But many are Christian. This is but only a few of the players. Its so frustrating that public policy is made by such ignorance. I was a Army Officer in the region and the press were uneducateable. The State Department was not much better.
Another stroke and he'll be even with Joe Biden
Carrying around heavy bags of US $ will do that to you.
maybe jj needs to see a picture of Saddam Hussein sweet memories,
Inshalla! Good luck and if you die, well, everyone does.
So the new president is wanted internationally for running DEATH SQUADS.
Not Fuking Good.