Former Iraqi President Talabani Dead at 83

Former Iraqi President and Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani has died in a Berlin hospital at age 83, according to Kurdish officials.

Talabani formerly led one of the largest Kurdish factions in Iraq before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion led to the ouster of Saddam Hussein. He then took over as Iraq’s president from 2005 to 2014, before stepping down to deal with complications from a stroke he suffered in 2012.

He was Iraq’s first non-Arab president. He was seen as a unifying figure within Iraq.

Talabani's death comes days after the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government held an independence referendum over Iraqi government objections.

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