UREGNT / President back to Baghdad

SULAIMANIYA / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabi on Saturday left Sulaimaniya city heading to the capital Baghdad. A correspondent for IraqiNews.com, who was present at the Sulaimaniya International Airport, said that Talabani had left without holding a press conference. On September 29, Talabani arrived at Arbil airport following a two-month visit to the United States, during which he underwent heart surgery. The modern city of Sulaimaniya, 364 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, was founded in 1748 by a Kurdish prince known as Ibrahim Pasha Baban who named it for his father Sulaiman Pasha. Since being founded as the capital of a powerful Kurdish principality it has grown to about 1,800,000 people. Sulaimaniya, known as Zamwa prior to its founding, is the cultural center of the Sorani-speaking Kurds and an important economic centre for Iraqi Kurdistan. SS (P) 1