Iraq's powerful Kurdish Alliance has nominated Jalal Talabani to be the country's president for a second term, a senior Kurdish official said yesterday.

"We had a meeting yesterday and we agreed to nominate President Talabani to one of the main posts in the country the presidency," Kurdish official Barham Salih said.

Political sources say that Iraq's other main parties are unlikely to try to block the Kurdish nomination.

The country's main Shi'ite Islamist alliance, which dominated last month's election, has already made it clear that it is more interested in the prime ministership, and no other party or coalition is likely to have enough influence within the new government to thwart Talabani.

However, it remains to be seen how powerful the new president will be.

Talabani has repeatedly said he would not stand for re-election unless the post came with more powers. That was interpreted by some as a call for a redrafting of Iraq's constitution, which will be reviewed once the new government comes to power.

But Salih said that was not what Talabani wanted.

"He had never called for amending the constitution but rather for a political agreement in which the authorities of the president are reinforced," said Salah, planning minister in the current government.

In a statement issued later, Talabani's spokesman said: "President Talabani has stressed many times that he must get more powers to accept this post."

(China Daily January 9, 2006)