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Iraqi president stable in Jordan hospital

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is suffering from extreme exhaustion and dehydration but his life is not in danger, his office said yesterday, a day after he was flown to Jordan for medical tests.

"The initial results of the medical tests showed that his condition is completely normal and stable. There is no need to worry. The vital and basic parts of his body are all in good condition," a statement said.

Talabani was admitted to the specialist King Hussein Medical Center in Amman on Sunday after being flown from Sulaimaniya in northern Iraq. A close aide to Talabani, who is in his early 70s, denied media reports he had had a heart attack.

The statement said Talabani fell ill due to a heavy workload. It said he would undergo further medical tests in Amman.

A US official in Washington said on Sunday Talabani had been taken to Jordan on a medically equipped US military transport plane. Talabani's post is largely ceremonial but he is an influential figure at home and in Washington.

Rivalries

The former Kurdish guerrilla leader is involved in political efforts to quell sectarian rivalries in Iraq while US troop reinforcements attempt to root out militant groups in Baghdad and avert a slide into all-out civil war.

A deadly explosion ripped through a meeting hall in the Iraqi ministry of public works yesterday during a visit by Vice President Adel Abdel Mahd.

Medics at a nearby hospital said at least four people were killed, including two women, and 26 wounded in the blast, but a member of the vice presidential party said that the Shiite leader was himself unhurt.

Bombs

US troops in Iraq have found a huge haul of armour-piercing bombs of a kind which Tehran has allegedly smuggled to Shiite militias, hidden alongside Iranian mortar shells.
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