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.

(Photo by Khamenei.ir. Jalal Talabani meet with Ali Khamenei. 22 November 2005.)