Massoud Barzani

Massoud Barzani has been the President of Iraqi Kurdistan since 2005.  The son of famed Kurdish nationalist leader Mustafa Barzani, he has led the Kurdistan Democratic Party since his father's 1979 death. During the Iran-Iraq War, Barzani and many Kurds fought alongside Iran, provoking Saddam Hussein, to brutally retaliate against his Kurdish subjects in Northern Iraq. When the Iraqis lost the war, they regained much of their homeland, which was protected by a no-fly zone.

The no-fly zone and the subsequent American invasion of Iraq have provided Iraqi Kurdistan with a level of autonomy not found in the segments of Kurdistan in neighboring countries, and the region is also noted for its safety compared to the rest of Iraq. After serving on Iraq's Government Council following the US invasion, Kurdish Parliament chose him as President of Iraqi Kurdistan;he was re-elected in 2009 with almost 70% of the popular vote.

For more information, see http://nyti.ms/s8IsoI.