Former Iraqi President Talabani’s body arrives in Kurdistan

A coffin carrying Talabani’s body was wrapped in the Kurdish flag carries by military personnel from the plane coming from Germany.

Talabani died on Tuesday, according to Kurdish television station and internet new portal Rudaw.

His body would be taken to the Great Mosque in the Sulaimaniya city before he is buried.

Talabani’s wife, Hero, and Kurdish President Masoud Barzani were joined by Iraqi President Fouad Massoum and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif at the airport.

A key mediator in Iraq’s divided political scene, Talabani, who died at 83 years, became the first Iraqi Kurdish president in 2005.

Talabani has been hospitalised several times in recent years, ever since he suffered a stroke in 2012.