Day Twenty Nine - PKK rebels back re-election of Kurd chief Barzani

QANDIL, Iraq — The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebel group said on Saturday that it hoped the region's president Massud Barzani would be re-elected to his post in polls next week.
But the Turkish Kurd rebel group, which has long taken refuge in remote mountainous bases in northern Iraq, declined to officially endorse any candidates in the July 25 election.

"We do not support any presidential candidates in Kurdistan, but we think that Massud Barzani is capable of carrying out this job in these sensitive times," senior PKK official Murad Qiralian told AFP in an interview.

Regarding legislative elections, which will be held alongside the presidential polls, Qiralian said the PKK had "chosen to be neutral and we do not support any particular list against another."
"We hope that the elections will be free and democratic, though we think that democracy has been violated with the banning of the al-Amal list from participating," he added in the Qandil mountains where he is based.

Iraq's electoral commission barred the Al-Hal party, which is close to the PKK from participating in the vote with its Al-Amal (hope in Arabic) list -- a decision seen by the party as politically-motivated.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.
Ankara has long accused Iraqi Kurds of aiding the PKK but during a visit to Baghdad by Turkish President Abdullah Gul in March, his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani -- himself a Kurd -- warned the rebels to lay down their guns or leave the country.

Six candidates have registered to contest the presidency in the Kurdish elections, including Barzani, while around 40 political entities have registered to contest the 111 seats in the assembly.

The vote will also mark the first time the president of the autonomous region of Kurdistan will be elected by popular vote. In 2005, Barzani was elected by the local parliament.

Source : AFP