Kurdish moderate Barham Saleh elected Iraq president

BAGHDAD:  Moderate Kurdish candidate Barham Saleh swept to the post of president of Iraq Tuesday evening with a resounding victory in a parliamentary vote.

Saleh routed his main rival Fuad Hussein with 219 votes to 22, dealing a blow to Hussein's main backer, former Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani who was the architect of an ill-fated independence referendum last year.