Iraqi Prez Flown to Jordon for Exhaustion

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Iraqi President ill, flown to Jordan for care
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/me.../talabani.ill/

POSTED: 2307 GMT (0707 HKT), February 25, 2007


Story Highlights• NEW: Talabani's office releases statement: "No need to worry."

• NEW: Talabani's son denies to CNN that his father had a heart attack

• White House says they arranged medically equipped plane for
Jordan flight

• Talabani's family went with him on the trip



BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani fell ill and was flown to neighboring Jordan on Sunday for treatment for what his son called "fatigue and exhaustion."

His office assured Iraqis there was "no need to worry" about his health.

Talabani's son, Qubad Talabani, called reports his father may have suffered a heart attack or a stroke "completely false."

He said the longtime Kurdish leader's departure from Iraq for Jordan's capital Amman should not be interpreted as an indication that his health is grave.

"It's quite regular and quite normal for senior Iraqi politicians to receive checkups or medical treatment outside of Iraq; I don't think that this is too big of an issue."

The Iraqi president, who had been persuaded to seek medical care, walked on and off the plane that took him to Amman, his son said.

"He was saying he was fine," the son told CNN. "He's absolutely up and about, being able to communicate and eat food."

In a written statement, Talabani's office said he became sick "as a result of the hard and continuing work of the past few days."

Talabani "is in stable condition, and we hope he will come back to this country in a safe and healthy way," the statement said.

However, a senior U.S. military official said he understood Talabani had a heart attack. There was no confirmation from any Iraqi or U.S. officials on the record, and doctors at Jordan's King Hussein hospital in Amman released no information.

The White House said it provided an airplane equipped with medical equipment to fly Talabani to Amman.

Talabani is head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two main parties that controls Iraqi Kurdistan.

He was in the northeastern city of Sulaimaniya when he fell ill and was advised by his doctors to go to the Jordanian capital for further medical tests, Deputy Iraqi Prime Minister Barham Salih told CNN.

Talabani's family accompanied him on the trip.