Controversy as Coffin of Kurdish Leader, First Post-Saddam Iraqi President, Draped With Kurdish Flag

Storyful
Updated

The coffin of Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi Kurdish politician and first post-Saddam Hussein President of Iraq, who died on October 3, was draped in the flag of Kurdistan on his arrival to Sulaymaniyah for his funeral on Friday, October 6.

The move sparked controversy, with some Iraqi news stations ceasing their broadcast of the ceremony as a result, according to screengrabs shared on Twitter. “Broadcasting of the funeral ceremony of the former President of the Republic has stopped because the deceased’s body was not wrapped in an Iraqi flag,” said the ticker on one station.

This video shows Talabani’s coffin arriving in Sulaymaniyah . Credit: Rudaw English via Storyful