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Iraqi National Assembly Names Kurdish President

After a two-month delay, Iraq's National Assembly appoints veteran Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as the country's new interim president.

Officials said former president Saddam Hussein, who oppressed the minority Kurds during his reign, watched the proceedings on TV from his prison cell.

The assembly also named two vice presidents Wednesday: Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, and Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Philip Reeves is an award-winning international correspondent covering South America. Previously, he served as NPR's correspondent covering Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India.