IRBIL: Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader who became Iraq’s president after the US-led invasion and helped steer the country through years of insurgent and sectarian strife, has died in a Berlin hospital at the age of 83, Kurdish officials said Tuesday.
Talabani died after his condition rapidly deteriorated, according to Marwan Talabani, a relative and senior official in the office of Talabani’s son. He had suffered a stroke in 2012 and was moved to a German hospital later that year for treatment.
The veteran pragmatist was elected by Parliament to the largely ceremonial role in 2005, two years after the US invasion that toppled his sworn enemy Saddam Hussein, and stayed in the position until 2014.
He won plaudits during his tenure for trying to build bridges between Iraq’s warring factions at the height of sectarian bloodletting between the Sunni and Shiite communities.
Widely known as “Mam (Uncle) Jalal,” the barrel-chested Talabani performed a delicate balancing act in a fraught region and was seen as being close to both the US and its rival Iran.
Talabani long dominated Kurdish political life along with the current leader of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani.
Born in 1933 in the rustic village of Kalkan in the mountains, as a young man he was quickly seduced by the Kurdish struggle for a homeland to unite a people scattered across Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria.
After studying law at Baghdad University and doing a stint in the army, Talabani joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Mullah Mustafa Barzani, Masoud’s father, and took to the hills in a first uprising against the Iraqi government in 1961.
But he famously fell out with Barzani after he sued for peace with Baghdad — the start of a long and costly internecine feud among Iraqi Kurds.
Talabani joined a KDP splinter faction in 1964, and 11 years later established the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) after Barzani’s forces, abandoned by their Iranian, US and Israeli allies, were routed by Saddam Hussein’s army.
His long career in troubled modern Iraq witnessed some of the lowest moments in Kurdish history.
A renewed uprising in the 1980s against the Saddam regime sparked the notorious Anfal campaign of 1988 in which the army razed hundreds of Kurdish villages and gassed thousands of people.
More tragedy was to come in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf war, when the Kurdish uprising collapsed, prompting hundreds of thousands of people to seek refuge on the mountainous borders with Iran and Turkey in the heart of winter.
Western intervention allowed the Kurds to re-establish control over the three most northerly provinces of Iraq, but the rebel enclave fell far short of Kurdish claims for full independence amid Turkish opposition to statehood.
The rivalry between Talabani and the Barzanis, which degenerated into all-out war in 1993, finally led to rapprochement in 2002, when it became clear that Washington intended to topple Saddam.
After his rise to the presidency following the first post-Saddam elections in Iraq, Talabani strived to smooth strained ties with Syria and Iran to help end their suspected support for the insurgency in Iraq.
He was chosen again as president twice in 2006 and 2010.
While he struggled to bring together Iraq’s disparate factions, the married father-of-two also battled a string of health problems.
In August 2008, he underwent successful heart surgery in the US and in 2012 he was flown to Germany after suffering a stroke.
Talabani eventually returned to Iraq in July 2014, just as Daesh seized control of much of the country, and was replaced by his ally Fuad Masum.
The death of the veteran leader in Germany came just over a week after a controversial referendum that saw over 92 percent of Kurds vote for independence.
The ballot, rejected by Baghdad as illegal, has caused major tensions between the Kurds and central Iraqi authorities, which have cut off international flights to the region and threatened further action.
Jalal Talabani, veteran Kurdish leader, ex-Iraqi president dies
Jalal Talabani, veteran Kurdish leader, ex-Iraqi president dies
Attacks against Palestinians intensify in occupied West Bank, says UN rights office
- About 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the north of the occupied West Bank since the Israeli military launched its ‘Iron Wall’ operation
- In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly count of Palestinians injured in over two decades in the West Bank
“Israeli settlers and security forces have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the past weeks,” Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR), told reporters in Geneva.
About 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the north of the occupied West Bank since the Israeli military launched its “Iron Wall” operation.
It is contributing to the ongoing consolidation of annexation of the West Bank, in violation of international law, the OHCHR said.
In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly count of Palestinians injured in over two decades in the West Bank.
Since January there have been 757 settler attacks on Palestinians or their properties, which is a 13 percent increase on the same period last year, OHCHR said.
At least 964 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Fifty-three Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and in Israel in reported attacks by Palestinians or in armed clashes, the office added.
One in ten children screened in UNRWA clinics are malnourished, says UN Palestinian refugee agency
GENEVA: One in ten children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza is malnourished, UNRWA said on Tuesday.
"Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," UNRWA's Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan.
Israel military says striking Hezbollah targets in east Lebanon
- Israel's military said: “Moments ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets... began numerous strikes toward Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Beqaa, Lebanon”
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said it was striking targets belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.
“Moments ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets... began numerous strikes toward Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Beqaa, Lebanon,” it said in a statement.
“The military compounds that were struck were used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization for training and exercising terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against (Israeli) troops and the State of Israel,” it added.
The statement said an Israeli military operation in September 2024 had “eliminated” Radwan force commanders in Beirut and southern Lebanon, but that “since then the unit has been operating to reestablish its capabilities.”
“The storage of weapons and the activities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization at these sites constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and constitute a future threat to the State of Israel,” it added.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that sought to end over a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war that left the group severely weakened.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.
Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.
Drone attack shuts Iraq oil field run by US company
- The Kurdistan natural resources ministry said the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit
- Strike called ‘an act of terrorism against the Kurdistan Region’s vital economic infrastructure’
IRBIL, Iraq: A drone strike forced a US company to suspend operations at an oil field in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region Tuesday, amid a wave of similar attacks targeting the region’s energy infrastructure.
The Kurdistan natural resources ministry said the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit, calling the strike “an act of terrorism against the Kurdistan Region’s vital economic infrastructure.”
The attack followed a similar drone strike a day earlier in neighboring Irbil province.
HKN Energy, the US company, said Tuesday’s blast occurred at about 7:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) at one of its production facilities in the Sarsang field.
“Operations at the affected facility have been suspended until the site is secured,” it said in a statement.
A fire broke out following the explosion, which did not cause any casualties.
Emergency response teams have contained the blaze, the company said later in an update.
In the past few weeks, there has been a spate of drone and rocket attacks mostly affecting Kurdistan.
Long plagued by conflict, Iraq has frequently experienced such attacks, often linked to regional proxy struggles.
The explosion in Sarsang field occurred a day after three explosive-laden drone attacks were reported in Kurdistan, with one drone shot down near Irbil airport, which hosts US troops, and another two hitting the Khurmala oil field causing material damage.
There has been no claim of responsibility for those attacks.
But, on July 3, the Kurdistan authorities said a drone was downed near Irbil airport, blaming the Hashed Al-Shaabi – a coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitaries now integrated into the regular armed forces.
The federal government in Baghdad rejected the accusation.
The latest attacks come at a time of heightened tension between Baghdad and Irbil over oil exports, with a major pipeline through Turkiye shut since 2023 over legal disputes and technical issues.
In May, Iraq’s federal authorities filed a complaint against the autonomous Kurdistan region for signing gas contracts with two US companies, including HKN Energy.
Syria defense minister announces ceasefire in Druze-majority Sweida
- A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city of Sweida in a bid to halt the violence
- Syrian troops had begun moving toward the city on Monday, taking control of at least one Druze village
DAMASCUS: Syria’s defense minister announced a ceasefire in the Druze-majority city of Sweida on Tuesday after government forces entered the city to end deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes.
“To all units operating within the city of Sweida, we declare a complete ceasefire after an agreement with the city’s notables and dignitaries,” Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra posted on X. Clashes had erupted between government forces and Druze fighters after contradictory statements from Druze religious leaders, with most urging fighters to lay down their arms.
Syrian government forces entered the majority Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, aiming to end clashes with Bedouin tribes that have killed nearly 100 people.
The southern city had been under the control of armed factions from the Druze minority, whose religious leaders said they had approved the deployment of Damascus’s troops and called on fighters to hand over their weapons.
A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city in a bid to halt the violence, which erupted at the weekend and has since spread across Sweida governorate.
Government forces said they intervened to separate the two sides but ended up taking control of several Druze areas around Sweida, an AFP correspondent reported.
Military columns were seen advancing toward Sweida on Tuesday morning, with heavy artillery deployed nearby.
The defense ministry said later that they had entered the city, and urged people to “stay home and report any movements of outlaw groups.”
An AFP correspondent heard explosions and gunshots as soldiers moved into Sweida.
Troops had begun heading toward the city on Monday, taking control of at least one Druze village, with one Druze faction saying talks were underway with the Damascus government.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported 99 people killed since the fighting erupted on Sunday — 60 Druze, including four civilians, 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 security personnel and seven unidentified people in military uniforms.
The defense ministry reported 18 deaths among the ranks of the armed forces.
While Druze religious authorities had called on Monday evening for a ceasefire and said they didn’t oppose the central government, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, one of the three Druze spiritual leaders in Sweida, opposed the arrival of the security forces and called for “international protection.”
Israel, which has attempted to portray itself as a protector of the Druze in Syria and sees them as potential allies, bombed several Syrian tanks on Monday.
The strikes were “a clear warning to the Syrian regime – we will not allow harm to be done to the Druze in Syria,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz, whose country has its own Druze population.
The fighting underscores the challenges facing interim leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces ousted president Bashar Assad in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.
Syria’s pre-war Druze population was estimated at around 700,000, many of them concentrated in Sweida province.
The Druze, followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam, are mainly found in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
Following deadly clashes with government forces in April and May, local and religious leaders reached an agreement with Damascus under which Druze fighters had been providing security in the province.
“We lived in a state of extreme terror – the shells were falling randomly,” said Abu Taym, a 51-year-old father.
Amal, a 46-year-old woman, said: “We fear a repeat of the coastal scenario,” referring to massacres in March of more than 1,700 mostly Alawite civilians in northwest Syria, where groups affiliated with the government were blamed for most of the killings.
“We are not against the state, but we are against surrendering our weapons without a state that treats everyone the same,” she added.
In a post on X, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra urged his troops to “protect your fellow citizens” from “outlaw gangs,” and to “restore stability to Sweida.”
The violence began on Sunday when Bedouin gunmen abducted a Druze vegetable vendor on the highway to Damascus, prompting retaliatory kidnappings.
The Observatory said members of Bedouin tribes, who are Sunni Muslims, had sided with security forces during earlier confrontations with the Druze.
Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, and violence occasionally erupts between the two sides.
