"Jalal Talabani" is a leading Kurds/Kurdish politician who served as the sixth President of Iraq from 2005 to 2014. He was the first non-Arab president of Iraq, although Abdul Kareem Qasim/Abdul Karim Qasim was of partial Kurdish heritage. He is known as "Mam Jalal" meaning "uncle Jalal" among Kurdish people.

Talabani is the founder and has been secretary general of one of the main Kurdish political parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). He was a prominent member of the Interim Iraq Governing Council, which was established following the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime by the 2003 invasion of Iraq/invasion of Iraq in 2003. Talabani has been an advocate for Kurdish rights and democracy in Iraq for more than 50 years. Apart from his native Kurdish language/Kurdish, Talabani is fluent in Arabic language/Arabic, Persian language/Persian, and English language/English. Talabani is a member of the Socialist International.

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We seek foreign assistance to help us develop our security forces and to partner with us as we try to further sustainable economic growth in our shattered country.

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A military coup needs a sacrifice and courage that you can't find in an army without morale.

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And the Iraqi people are liberated from the worst kind of dictatorship. Now they are enjoying their democratic rights, all kinds of freedoms, a free press.

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The first thing we are thinking of doing after forming a national unity government is to build stability and security and to terminate terrorism.

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We are finding new mass graves every day. Saddam Hussein committed a crime by using chemical weapons... He waged two wars on Iran and Kuwait. He murdered and executed hundreds and hundreds of Iraqis.

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As president of Iraq, I shall strive to represent the diversity of a country that has too often in the past denied difference.

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Rather, it is through conciliation and compromise that we are building a fair Iraq, a just state for all its peoples.

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It is this regime that started a war of genocide against the Kurdish people, then started an unjust war against our dear neighbour Iran which has often helped the Iraqi people at times of hardship.

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Of course, some opposition members who failed in the elections, or some who did not take part in the elections must have something to say. They cannot admit the facts and the realities, but these are the facts and the realities.

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