I shall stand for freedom of thought and expression in a place where it has been trampled and penalized.

Personal life and health
Jalal Talabani is married to Hero Ibrahim Ahmed daughter of Ibrahim Ahmed a lieutenant of Mullah Mustafa. -led Coalition in the invasion of Iraq. The Kurdish separatist movement collapsed in March 1975 after Iran ended their support in exchange for a border agreement with Iraq.

He is the first non-Arab president of Iraq although Abdul Kareem Qasim was of partial Kurdish heritage. He was a prominent member of the Interim Iraq Governing Council which was establiJalal Talabanid following the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime by the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Talabani is a member of the Socialist International.