Jalal Talabani—or Mam (Uncle) Jalal, as he was widely known—loved to tell jokes. ... with Masoud Barzani becoming president of Kurdistan and Jalal Talabani becoming president of Iraq. ...

Barzani took the helm of the party after his father's death in exile in 1979 and joined his rival, future Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, in splitting control of what would become the Kurdish ...

Jalal Talabani Dies: Kurdish ... before the Kurdish referendum for independence two weeks ago that was pushed through by Kurdish President Masoud Barzani. Talabani was dying in a German hospital ...

This dynamic was a major reason why, in 1975, Jalal Talabani, the deputy to Masoud’s father, Mulla Mustafa Barzani, spun off to form the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK.

Jalal Talabani, who dominated Kurdish politics for decades, ... (The PUK, which was most left wing, saw itself as distinct from Masoud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party, ...

ERBIL, Iraq-- Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader who became Iraq's president after the U.S.-led invasion and helped steer the country through years of insurgent and sectarian strife, has died in a ...

Jalal Talabani, who dominated Kurdish politics for decades, ascended to the Iraqi presidency in the post-Saddam Hussein era, and yet remained Mam (“uncle”) Jalal to his people, has died in Berlin.

In fractured, postwar Iraq, Jalal Talabani — who died Tuesday in a German hospital at age 83 — had the ability to solve some of the country's most serious problems over lunch. As a skilled politician ...

Thousands of Iraqi Kurdish mourners, Iraqi officials and world dignitaries attended the funeral of Jalal Talabani, the country's first president in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq and once a symbol of ...

As he stepped into office to become Iraq’s first Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani told his followers, “I am casting off my Kurdish clothes and wearing Iraqi ones instead. You must accept that.” ...

IRBIL, Iraq -- Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish guerrilla leader who became Iraq's president after the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein and who embodied hopes for a unified, peaceful future through years of ...

As Iraq's president, Talabani was considered a unifying force who could get feuding political leaders to talk to each other. His death came days after Iraqi Kurds voted for independence.