Iraq ex-president Jalal Talebani dies

Former Iraqi President Jalal Talebani has died in a Berlin hospital at the age of 83.

A close family friend and a senior Kurdish official in Erbil say Talebani died after his condition rapidly deteriorated on Tuesday, Fars News agency quoted the Daily Star report.

He had suffered a stroke in 2012 and was moved to a German hospital later that year for treatment.

Talebani led one of Iraq's main Kurdish faction, Iraq’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and went on to become the country's president after 2003, following the toppling of the Ba'th minority regime led by Saddam.

He was often seen as a unifying elder statesman who could soothe tempers among Iraq's different ethnic and tribal groups.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif conveyed a message of condolence to the Iraqi nation over the passing of Talabani, praising him as “one of the most influential, prominent and benevolent figures in Iraq.”

“His absence is irreparable damage to the brotherly nations of Iran and Iraq,” Zarif said.

EA