Jalal Talabani

Iraq should stop its widespread use of the death penalty, which is unjust, flawed and only fuels the violence it purports to deter, the United Nations said in a report on Sunday.

Quiet and bookish, Iraq's president-elect Fuad Masum is different from jocular incumbent Jalal Talabani, but sharp political skills forged in the long battle for Kurdish self-determination are common to both.

Gunmen attacked a prisoner convoy north of Baghdad on Thursday, setting off a gunbattle with troops in which 52 prisoners and eight soldiers were killed, officials said.

President Jalal Talabani returned to Iraq on Saturday for the first time since he suffered a stroke a year and a half ago and was flown abroad for medical treatment, state television said.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who has been in Germany for medical treatment since December 2012, will return home on Saturday, his party said in a statement on Friday.

Iraq's ailing President Jalal Talabani, a key politician who sought to bridge political and sectarian divides, will be flown to Germany for specialist treatment after a reported stroke, his office said on Wednesday.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has mediated among the country's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish parties, was in hospital on Tuesday after suffering a stroke that left him in "critical but stable condition", government sources said.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has been a key player in mediating during the country's political crisis, was hospitalised in Baghdad because of a "health emergency" late Monday night, his office said.

Iraq should stop its widespread use of the death penalty, which is unjust, flawed and only fuels the violence it purports to deter, the United Nations said in a report on Sunday.

Quiet and bookish, Iraq's president-elect Fuad Masum is different from jocular incumbent Jalal Talabani, but sharp political skills forged in the long battle for Kurdish self-determination are common to both.

Gunmen attacked a prisoner convoy north of Baghdad on Thursday, setting off a gunbattle with troops in which 52 prisoners and eight soldiers were killed, officials said.

President Jalal Talabani returned to Iraq on Saturday for the first time since he suffered a stroke a year and a half ago and was flown abroad for medical treatment, state television said.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who has been in Germany for medical treatment since December 2012, will return home on Saturday, his party said in a statement on Friday.

Iraq's ailing President Jalal Talabani, a key politician who sought to bridge political and sectarian divides, will be flown to Germany for specialist treatment after a reported stroke, his office said on Wednesday.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has mediated among the country's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish parties, was in hospital on Tuesday after suffering a stroke that left him in "critical but stable condition", government sources said.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has been a key player in mediating during the country's political crisis, was hospitalised in Baghdad because of a "health emergency" late Monday night, his office said.