Massoud Barzani
| Masoud Barzani مسعوود بارزانی |
|
|---|---|
 |
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| President of Iraqi Kurdistan | |
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Assumed office 14 June 2005 |
|
| Prime Minister |
Nechervan Idris Barzani Barham Salih Nechervan Idris Barzani |
| Vice President | Kosrat Rasul Ali |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| President of the Governing Council of Iraq | |
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In office 1 April 2004 – 30 April 2004 |
|
| Leader | Paul Bremer |
| Preceded by | Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum |
| Succeeded by | Ezzedine Salim |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 August 1946 Republic of Mahabad, Mahabad, Iran |
| Political party | Kurdistan Democratic Party |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Masoud Barzani (Kurdish: مەسعوود بارزانی or Mesûd Barzanî; born 16 August 1946) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who has been President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region since 2005, as well as leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979.
Masoud Barzani succeeded his father, the Kurdish nationalist leader Mustafa Barzani, as the leader of the KDP in 1979. Working closely with his brother Idris Barzani until Idris's death, Barzani and various other Kurdish groups fought the forces of the Iraqi government in Baghdad during the Iran–Iraq War. For much of this time, the Kurdish leadership was exiled to Iran.
A major result of Saddam Hussein's defeat in the Gulf War (1991) and Operation Provide Comfort was the ultimate establishment of Kurdish control over their traditional homeland in northern Iraq, known as Iraqi Kurdistan and "South Kurdistan". Just a few months after the creation of the autonomous zone, free elections (a first in Iraq) were held in 1992. The two main Kurdish parties, namely Barzani's KDP and the Jalal Talabani-led Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), split the vote, and subsequently split the government ministries evenly. In May 1994, however, fighting broke out between the Peshmerga of the PUK and of KDP. On August 31, 1996 Barzani called on the assistance of Saddam Hussein's regime to help him combat the PUK, which was receiving Iranian assistance. With the aid of the Iraqi army, the KDP drove the PUK from Iraqi Kurdistan's major cities. The PUK eventually regrouped and retook Suleimani and parts of Hawler province. An end to the civil war was brokered in 1998 in the Washington Peace Accords, leaving the Kurdish zone divided between the KDP in the Northwest and PUK in the Southeast. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the KDP and PUK have gradually established a unified regional government. Barzani became a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and was the president of the council in April 2004. He was elected as the President of Iraqi Kurdistan by the Parliament of Iraqi Kurdistan in June 2005.
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Wikipedia