(recasts, adds Talabani quote) SULAIMANIYA, Iraq, March 14 (Reuters) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was greeted by thousands of Kurds as he returned to Iraq on Wednesday and vowed to pursue a federal Iraq. Talabani returned to the northern city of Sulaimaniya after two weeks in a Jordanian hospital where he was recovering from exhaustion. "I am with you until the final breath in realising the goal of a democratic and federal Iraq," Talabani told the crowd to a huge cheer. People in the crowd waved Kurdish flags and others danced to loud music before Talabani's arrival in a party atmosphere. Talabani, a former Kurdish rebel leader in his early 70s, was flown to Jordan for medical tests on Feb. 25 for fatigue and had been recuperating in hospital since. It was not clear when he would return to work but an official from his party told Reuters he was in good health and would spend several days to rest in Sulaimaniya before returning to his office in Baghdad.
