ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's former prime minister and leader of the State of Law Coalition, was admitted to a hospital in Baghdad on Tuesday. A source from his party told The New Region that he had suffered a heart attack, but his office later claimed it was for a routine check-up.

“Maliki was transferred to Ibn al-Bitar Hospital in Baghdad, and is now in the hospital's private wing,” a medical source from the State of Law Coalition told The New Region.

“He will be admitted to the operating room for an emergency open-heart surgery to prevent his health from deteriorating,” they added.

A statement from Maliki's media office shortly after the news said that he had underwent a regular medical check-up on Tuesday morning.

Despite resigning as prime minister during his second term over 10 years ago, Maliki continues to exert significant influence over Iraqi politics. In addition to leading the State of Law Coalition and being the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party, Maliki is one of the main leaders of the government-forming Shiite alliance known as the Coordination Framework and is a key figure in the ruling State Administration Coalition.

Following the 2021 parliamentary elections, the Coordination Framework, under the leadership of Maliki, repeatedly blocked the efforts of the elections’ main winner Muqtada al-Sadr to form a national majority government, resulting in the eventual withdrawal of the powerful Shiite cleric from the political process altogether.

Title and content updated at 15:09 in light of the statement from Maliki's office