farquar
04-06-2005, 08:39 AM
Jalal Talabani: From Rebel to President
Wed Apr 6, 6:11 AM ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Jalal Talabani has spent a lifetime fighting for Kurdish rights, first forming a secret student association at the age of 13 and later taking up arms against the Iraqi government.
Now, as the new president of Iraq, he takes his battle from the green, rolling hills of the Kurdish north to the heavily fortified Green Zone of Baghdad, where he will fight to ensure that Iraq's new constitution protects Kurdish rights.
One of his biggest challenges will be Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 180 miles north of Baghdad that the Kurds want to incorporate into their self-governing region. The future of the disputed city is expected to be decided as lawmakers draft a final constitution by Aug. 15.
In the coming weeks, Talabani will also be overseeing the return of Kurds displaced by ousted leader Saddam Hussein.
After his election Wednesday, he promised to govern not just for the Kurds, but for all Iraqis "freed from the most horrific dictatorship."
He was greeted by a standing ovation, and he threw his hands in the air and clenched his fists together in a sign of unity. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050406/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_new_president :huge:
Wed Apr 6, 6:11 AM ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Jalal Talabani has spent a lifetime fighting for Kurdish rights, first forming a secret student association at the age of 13 and later taking up arms against the Iraqi government.
Now, as the new president of Iraq, he takes his battle from the green, rolling hills of the Kurdish north to the heavily fortified Green Zone of Baghdad, where he will fight to ensure that Iraq's new constitution protects Kurdish rights.
One of his biggest challenges will be Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 180 miles north of Baghdad that the Kurds want to incorporate into their self-governing region. The future of the disputed city is expected to be decided as lawmakers draft a final constitution by Aug. 15.
In the coming weeks, Talabani will also be overseeing the return of Kurds displaced by ousted leader Saddam Hussein.
After his election Wednesday, he promised to govern not just for the Kurds, but for all Iraqis "freed from the most horrific dictatorship."
He was greeted by a standing ovation, and he threw his hands in the air and clenched his fists together in a sign of unity. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050406/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_new_president :huge: