(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121218-talabani-230a.photoblog600.jpg)Mike Segar / Reuters, fileIraq's President Jalal Talabani, seen here in September 2011, is in the hospital for a medical 'emergency'.Updated at 9:45 a.m. ET: BAGHDAD - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani -- a Kurd who has been a key player in mediating during the country's political crisis -- was in hospital on Tuesday after suffering a stroke that left him in "stable" condition, a lawmaker said.
Three un-named government sources said he was in critical condition, but his office said the 79-year-old president was stable under intensive medical supervision after receiving treatment for blocked arteries.
Without Talabani, Iraq would lose an influential peace-maker who often eased tensions in the fragile power-sharing government and negotiated in the growing rift over oil between Baghdad and the OPEC member country's autonomous Kurdistan region.
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