FILE - In this April 6, 2005 file photo, Kurdish youngsters celebrate the election of then Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, in downtown Sulaimaniyah, Iraq. Talabani, a lifelong fighter for Iraqâs Kurds who rose to become the countryâs president, presenting himself as a unifying father figure to temper the potentially explosive hatreds among Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis has died in a Berlin hospital at the age of 83. (AP Photo/Sasa Kralj, File)
The Associated Press
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi Kurdish officials say Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region has declared a week of mourning after the death of former president, Jalal Talabani.
Sadi Ahmed Pire, a spokesman for the Kurdish party which Talabani headed, says flags will fly at half-staff on Wednesday. Talabani's burial in the city of Sulaimaniyah is planned for this weekend.
Seen as a unifying elder statesman who could soothe tempers among Iraq's Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, Talabani suffered a stroke in 2012 after which he was moved to Germany for treatment and faded from Iraq's political life.
He died in a Berlin hospital on Tuesday afternoon, at the age of 83, after his condition deteriorated rapidly.
His death comes days after Iraqi Kurds' controversial referendum on independence that has angered Baghdad and the region.
FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2009 file photo, then Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, center, salutes unidentified war veterans at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, during his first state visit to France. Talabani, a lifelong fighter for Iraqâs Kurds who rose to become the countryâs president, presenting himself as a unifying father figure to temper the potentially explosive hatreds among Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis has died in a Berlin hospital at the age of 83. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this April 22, 2003 file photo, retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Jay Garner raises arms with then Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani, left, and then Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Massoud Barzani in Dokan, northern Iraq. Talabani, a lifelong fighter for Iraqâs Kurds who rose to become the countryâs president, presenting himself as a unifying father figure to temper the potentially explosive hatreds among Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis has died in a Berlin hospital at the age of 83. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer/Pool)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this April 12, 2005 file photo, then Iraqi President Jalal Talibani, left, and tehn U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld talk at a press availability in Baghdad, Iraq. Talabani, a lifelong fighter for Iraqâs Kurds who rose to become the countryâs president, presenting himself as a unifying father figure to temper the potentially explosive hatreds among Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis has died in a Berlin hospital at the age of 83. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
The Associated Press