Iraq's Talabani out of hospital soon: envoy Sat Mar 3, 5:48 AM ET
AMMAN (AFP) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, in hospital in Jordan suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, will be discharged in two or three days, Baghdad's ambassador in Amman said on Saturday.
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"The Iraqi president's health is good... he is convalescing in hospital and will leave in two or three days at the most," Saad Jassem al-Hayyani told AFP.
On Thursday, Talabani's personal physician Ayar Jar Hishmat said the 74-year-old president's health was "almost back to a normal state," and that he could be discharged "within days, not weeks" after treatment involving "IV (intravenous) fluids and antibiotics."
Talabani himself on Thursday promised in an address broadcast on Iraqi television from the King Hussein Medical Centre in Amman that he will soon return to work.
"I pledge to my people that I will be active for a new Iraq and thank God for his grace. I think I am in good health, contrary to rumours," said the Kurdish former freedom fighter.
"I will come back healthy to return to my mission of peace, liberty and national unity," he added.
Talabani was flown to Jordan on Sunday in a US military aircraft equipped with medical facilities from his home town of Suleimaniyah in northern Iraq, suffering from extreme fatigue and dehydration.
The first non-Arab to lead a modern Arab majority state, Talabani became president in April 2005 after Iraq's first election since the US-led invasion overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
