Talabani leaves hospital to return to Iraq

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani today left a Jordanian hospital to fly back to Baghdad.

Mr Talabani was admitted to hospital in Amman on February 25, hours after he collapsed in northern Iraq from what was diagnosed as exhaustion and dehydration caused by lung and sinus infections.

Mr Talabani fell ill in his hometown Sulaimaniyah, and was unconscious when taken to the local hospital, but he recovered enough to be flown to neighbouring Jordan the same night.

The Iraqi ambassador to Jordan, Saad al-Hayyani, said the president would return directly to Iraq after leaving the hospital.