AMMAN, Jordan, Feb. 25, 2007
Iraqi President Falls Ill
Jalal Talabani, 73, Flown To Jordan For Medical Treatment
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Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, seen here in a press conference in January, was flown to Jordan for medical treatment. (Getty Images/Ali Al-Saadi)
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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.
"The president's plane just landed in Amman and he will soon be whisked away to an Amman hospital for medical checkups," Iraqi Ambassador Saad Al-Hayyani told The Associated Press.
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.
Talabani, 73, flew from Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq, to neighboring Jordan for medical treatment, his office said Sunday, adding there was "no cause for worry."
A senior Bush administration told CBS News that the U.S. helped with a medically-equipped transport to get Talabani to Jordan. The official could not clear up whether or not Talibani had a heart attack or stroke.
Talabani arrived at Amman's King Hussein Medical City in a motorcade that included police cars with their sirens wailing. Journalists were not permitted behind the main gates of the facility, making it unclear whether the Iraqi leader entered the hospital on foot or by wheelchair or stretcher.
King Hussein Medical City is a military hospital, where several Arab leaders had previously received treatment, including the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Before Talabani's arrival a doctor from he hospital said the Iraqi leader would "be admitted to the hospital's heart center."
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. The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to give statements to the media.
A doctor in Sulaimaniyah, Talabani's hometown, told The Associated Press that the 73-year-old president was unconscious when an ambulance rushed him to a hospital there.
"After his condition stabilized, the doctors advised him to go to Jordan for a complete check up," he said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release the information.
The brief statement by Talabani's office said he had fallen ill because of "continuing hard work over the past few days."
Talabani, a Kurd, appeared in public Saturday in this Kurdish city where he met with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Massoud Barzani, leader of the self-rule Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
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.
Saleh, a deputy prime minister, said members of Talabani's immediate family accompanied him to Amman.
An official at Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, said the president had a long history of fainting when he is exhausted — a condition dating back to his years as a Kurdish guerrilla leader fighting Saddam Hussein's regime decades ago.
The official also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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If GOD is really on Bush's side as he and PET ROBERTSON had claimed then why all the bad things happening to those who favor Bush.
Religious right should double check the aunthenticity of their religious ideologies before we get really doomed in the hope of second coming of Christ.
My Canadians ask me whether GOD is really an American?I am gonna ask a little different different question;Is God from Down South?
Posted by jpowalski at 03:35 PM : Feb 25, 2007
Be careful for what you wish, jp. You really think we'd be better off with Cheney in the big chair?
Posted by elgraz at 04:54 PM : Feb 25, 2007
Hold on there Sparky! I'd suggest that Sir Lies-A-Lot has made enough enemies on this planet and having the worlds population of Muslims is NOT an improvement. Get a grip and stop blaming other people. We elected an INCOMPETENT MORON who's been defeated in EVERY aspect of this "War" he's decided to fight. Don't blame others because you can not see past your own bigotry and hatreds. Those are the ONLY reasons that Al Gore was NOT our President and as the Fascist have told us so many times, if Gore is our President we are NOT in Iraq but we ARE in Afganistan. Simple?
Posted by patriotic9 at 03:22 PM : Feb 25, 2007
Naw! I don't think God is any more a Southern Fascist today than he was 40 years ago when they said he wanted blacks to stay in their place of face lynching. LMAO Do you realize THAT was what these ignorant people used to teach in schools and pass off as "Prayer"? LOL
The fact that the President of Iraq has ran away to Jordan means the jig is up.
Doesn't matter what anybody does now, the Iraqi president is seen as weak, expect a surge in bombings, which will see the allied troops increasingly as occupiers not liberators.
Bring them home.
Sign this Appeal.
This site is an Appeal For Redress in support of our mission in Iraq.
An Appeal For Redress is an authorized means for active duty military to submit a grievance to Congress. It can be signed by Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel.
It is authorized by DoD Directive 1325.6 and DoD Directive 7050.6.
The wording of the Appeal for Redress is:
As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.
If you are active duty, reservist or national guard, please Sign this Appeal.
Most service members fully support the war in Iraq and feel calls to retreat by Congress and attacks by our media on our conduct and mission act to motivate our enemy while demoralizing our support at home, directly increasing the threat we face and resulting in greater American casualties. This Appeal for Redress provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to Congress to fully support us and actively oppose media attacks on our mission and our morale.
http://www.appealforcourage.org/
Hopefully, he will remain there.
p.s.- lars008/singinrick, why are you talking to yourself?
"You really think we'd be better off with Cheney in the big chair?"
Not according to Rush Bimbo(Limbaugh), and I quote, "My hero, *** Cheney, is back..." I'll dance a jig when that viagra poppin, pompas *** drops dead forever from the radio waves.
Anyway, I think Saddam will have the last laugh from beyond the grave by cursing all of those who were envolved with his demise. Hey, maybe I just started an urban legend????
Must be nice being a US taxpayer supported lackey so you can enjoy the finest accomodations at no expense to yourself.
Jalal Talabani, 73, Flown To Jordan For Medical Treatment"
My guess is that Cheney decided he was no longer useful and is trying to have him "put down". Maybe it would have been easier to do if he'd just taken him quail hunting instead? Of course this way he does have a good alibi, as long as no traces of whatever they used are found in his system.
Posted by feelfree1 at 01:03 AM : Feb 26, 2007
Split personality. A common mental illness of fundamentalists. Republican or christian or in his case both. Sad to see actually. Maybe someday he'll get some good psychiatric care.
How dare you confuse the issue with facts? The directives were just the standard bs about the procedures for handling complaints about reprisals for protected acts that flow from Title 10 USC 1034
I noticed that singinrick said that he and his wife had both signed. I must have been mistaken in my belief that he's said he had been previously in the service and that his wife was on active duty, since it is for active duty personnel and I know that he wouldn't sign under false pretenses.
Don't worry about it, there are a lot of lawyers carrying around briefcases for the IG's that would have missed that one, it's at such a tangent to the point that lars was trying to make. Unless the DoD was using psychics back in 2000 when directive 7050.6 was issued, it didn't specifically authorize petitions involving a war that wasn't, yet. It was an especially awkward citation since the reprisals mentioned aren't likely to result from activities that fit the "party line." Citations that are only vaguely relevant are the work of those who must try to impress.
I'm sure that in your years in uniform, you met your share of those. Did you ever meet an admiral who thought he knew it all or and Ensign who thought he didn't?
Don't worry about it, there are a lot of lawyers carrying around briefcases for the IG's that would have missed that one, it's at such a tangent to the point that lars was trying to make. Unless the DoD was using psychics back in 2000 when directive 7050.6 was issued, it didn't specifically authorize petitions involving a war that wasn't, yet. It was an especially awkward citation since the reprisals mentioned aren't likely to result from activities that fit the "party line." Citations that are only vaguely relevant are the work of those who must try to impress.
I'm sure that in your years in uniform, you met your share of those. Did you ever meet an admiral who thought he knew it all or and Ensign who thought he didn't?
http://www.appealforredress.org = 1,392
http://www.appealforcourage.org = 1,103
out of approx. 2.6 million serving on active duty and reserves, I'd say both sites still have quite distance to go in order to turn even the most liberal & moderate of Senators to even bat-an-eye at this. Anyway, take care firststate and have a great week!
Thanks for sharing the wisdom. Talk to you later! I hope we can discuss again. I got to call it a night, morning, whatever it is. Take care.
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by lars008-2009
February 26, 2007 7:03 AM PST
- don%u2019t you just love these stupid silly little fascist nazi Islamic muslims pretending to be liberal Americans%u2026%u2026 and begging for the usa to leave iraq%u2026..lol%u2026.. they must be really getting their arses kicked%u2026. Hahahahahahaha
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See all 24 Commentsand you fascist nazi Islamic muslim collaborators