Scandal: $150 million dollars diverted to President Talibani’s “medical expenses”

Erbil (IraqiNews.com) A medical source in Erbil revealed that the cost of treating President Jalal Talabani amounted to $150 million USD from Iraq’s budget.

The source said, in a statement to IraqiNews.com, that “Talabani’s medical expenses during the first six months in Germany amounted to $120 million USD, indicating that he was transferred later to another place. The expenses spent on taking care of him were estimated at $30 million US dollars.”

The source added that “Talabani did not spend even one dinar from his money and that all amounts were spent from the state budget exclusively.”

President Jalal Talabani returned to Iraq on Saturday, July 19, 2014 after a medical trip to Germany that lasted for about a year and a half.

It is noteworthy that Talabani nicknamed “Mam Jalal” which means “Uncle Jalal” in the Kurdish language, is the first Kurdish president in Iraq’s modern history. He was elected president of the transitional phase in April 2005 and re-elected in April 2010 for a second term of four years.

UPDATE: July 21 – 21:06 PM (AST)

Aref Korbani, a political observer who is close to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said that “this news is not true and has no basis. President Talabani was spending his full salary to charity; He is not in need of state funds to spend them on his personal health, as well as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan as a political force always looks on the disbursement of what he has in the interest of citizens”, adding that “this news is part of the campaign to disparage the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).”

The return of Talabani expenses is associated with his treatment which is paid from the general budget of Iraq, according to the Iraqi constitution, which states that “the travel expenses and the treatment of presidents in the three presidencies is the responsibility of the general budget of the country.”