Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Falls Ill

BAGHDAD, Iraq – President Jalal Talabani is ill and has flown to neighboring Jordan for medical treatment, his office said Sunday, adding there was “no cause for worry.”

The brief statement said only that the 73-year-old Talabani had fallen ill because of “continuing hard work over the past few days.”

Talabani, a Kurd, appeared in public Saturday in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah where he met with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Massoud Barzani, leader of the self-rule Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

In Sulaimaniyah, senior Kurdish politician Barham Saleh said Talabani was on his feet when he headed for a meeting Sunday with top aides shortly before he left for Jordan.

Saleh, a deputy prime minister, said members of Talabani’s immediate family accompanied him to Amman.