American University in Sulaimaniyahh

In groundbreaking ceremonies attended by the US Ambassador in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, high-ranking Kurdistan regional government leaders and some Sulaimaniyah University professors and students, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani (who is also head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party) laid the cornerstone of the American University in Sulaimaniyah. Kurdistan region president Mustafa Barzani thanked Talabani and congratulated the students of Sulaimaniyah and Kurdistan. He said he appreciated Talabani's efforts to reopen Sulaimaniyah University, which is considered one of the top Iraqi universities. He announced that the American University will be the third one in the Middle East, following the American universities of Cairo and Beirut.