Former Iraqi President Talabani Laid To Rest

The coffin of former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani arrives at Sulaimaniya Airport on October 6.

Former Iraqi President and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani has been buried in his hometown of Sulaimaniya.

Thousands of Iraqi Kurds paid their last respects to Talabani on October 6 and a special ceremony was held at the Great Mosque in Sulaimaniya before his burial.

Talabani died on October 3 at the age of 83.

Talabani suffered a stroke in 2012 and was moved to a German hospital later that year for treatment.

Talabani, a veteran leader of the Kurdish struggle for self-determination, was elected president in 2005, two years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

He was the seventh president of Iraq and the country’s first non-Arab president.

Talabani stepped down in 2014.

Based on reporting by AP and dpa