Opponent of Iraq Kurd leader only candidate in presidential vote: Commission

SULAIMANIYAH: An opponent of Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani is the only person to present his candidacy for next month's presidential election in the autonomous region, the electoral chief said Tuesday.

"By the deadline for candidates on Tuesday, we had received all the documents necessary for Mohammad Tofiq Rahim to be a candidate for the presidency of Kurdistan. He is the only person to have declared himself a candidate," electoral commission Yari Hadji Omar told AFP by telephone from the regional capital Arbil.

The region, which last week voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence in a referendum rejected by Baghdad, will hold presidential and legislative elections on November 1.

Barzani has said repeatedly he would not stand for re-election.