SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region—Media outlets of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) released on Monday evening a video footage of party leader Jalal Talabani, casting his vote in Iraq’s parliamentary elections in Germany.
The video shows Talabani surrounded by members of his party and the staff of the Iraqi election commission as he cast his vote on a wheelchair in Berlin.
Talabani has been recuperating from a stroke in a German hospital since December 2012.
He was elected Iraq’s president in 2005.
Members and supporters of the PUK welcomed the video with celebratory gunfire across Kurdistan, particularly in Sulaimani, Kirkuk and the Garmiyan region.
According to Rudaw correspondent in Sulaimani, 11 people among them a woman and a child have been wounded by stray bullets.
One of the wounded is a student at the American University in Iraq-Sulaimani.
Meanwhile, Najmaldin Karim, one of Talabani’s doctors and senior PUK member told Rudaw on Monday that Talabani’s condition has improved and that, “I am certain that Talabani will return,” to Kurdistan sometime soon.
Karim who is authorized by his party to speak on Talabani’s condition said that it was time they made preparations for his return.
“Talabani’s condition is very stable,” said Karim.
According to Karim Talabani is now receiving physical therapy.
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