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Iraqi president Jalal Talabani to fly to
U.S. for medical checkup
20.5.2007
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Jalal
Talabani to fly to the Minnesota for medical checkup
May 20, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region (Iraq), --
President Jalal Talabani will travel to the United
States this weekend for a medical checkup, a senior
Kurdish politician close to the Iraqi leader said
Saturday.
The politician, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he is not authorized to discuss the
president's plans, said the checkup at the Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, Minn., has been scheduled for
weeks.
Talabani, a 73-year-old Sunni Kurd, will fly Sunday
from the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles
northeast of Baghdad. He gave no other details.
Talabani, 73, was
admitted to King Hussein Medical Center in Amman
in neighboring Jordan Feb. 25 after he collapsed in
Sulaimaniyah. He was unconscious as he was rushed to
a local hospital, but recovered enough to be flown
to Jordan.
Doctors said he suffered from exhaustion and
dehydration caused by lung and sinus infections. |
Iraqi
President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd |
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He returned home 17 days later, flying directly to
Sulaimaniyah where thousands of Kurds greeted him.
Talabani met earlier Saturday with visiting British
Prime Minister Tony Blair and the two addressed a
news conference along with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Looking pale and slightly unkempt, Talabani was
visibly angry when answering a reporter's question
on the chances of a coup toppling al-Maliki's
government.
"A coup is an illusion that will never materialize,"
Talabani said. "If it becomes necessary, hundreds of
thousands of popular and military forces will be
prepared to stand by the government against any coup
attempt."
Talabani will be the second top Iraqi politician to
fly to the United States for medical reasons in four
days.
Senior Shiite politician
Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim
flew there aboard a U.S. military aircraft Wednesday
for further tests to determine if he is suffering
from lung cancer, according to members of his staff.
Al-Hakim is the leader of the Supreme Islamic
Council in Iraq, the country's largest Shiite party
and a partner in al-Maliki's coalition government.
AP
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