Upi.com | March 15, 2009

BAGHDAD, March 15 (UPI) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is unlikely to seek re-election later this year but will remain active in politics, says the 75-year-old leader's Web site.

Talabani, head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, was elected president in April 2005.

Talabani's Web site said he has "expressed his willingness not to seek another presidential nomination" but does not intend to withdraw from the "political and partisan arena," CNN reported.

While the prime minister holds most of the power, Talabani has played a key role in maintaining Iraq's ethnic balance, CNN reported Sunday.

The nation's parliament chooses the president and two vice presidents, a Sunni and a Shia. All three will leave office when parliamentary polls are held in December.