IMPEACH BUSH

CHICAGO (AFP) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has begun a weight loss treatment expected to last several weeks at the Mayo Clinic in the United States.

The Mayo Clinic would not disclose what type of treatments Talabani would receive as part of his "comprehensive examination," but the 74-year-old portly politician said last week that the tests were aimed at helping him to shed some weight.

"I have no health problems except for being overweight and I intend to treat that," 74-year-old Talabani told a news conference last week, according to a statement released by his office.

"I will go to the United States soon for general medical tests to help me to lose weight," the Kurdish veteran leader added.

In March, Talabani was hospitalized in Jordan for two weeks suffering from what his doctors called fatigue dehydration.

Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the head of one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite parties, recently traveled to the United States for medical tests, but his office did not specify what the tests were for.

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, best known for its cancer and heart care treatment, has the largest organ transplantation program in the United States.