The new speaker of Iraq's parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi, attends a meeting for the basra provincial Council in Basra, Iraq September 18, 2018.
The Iraqi parliament will choose the country’s next president on Oct. 2, Assembly Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi said Tuesday.
The two main political parties in northern Iraq's Kurdish region are both competing to obtain the post, with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) nominating Barham Saleh and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) nominating Fuad Hussein.
“The deadline for electing the next president of the republic has been set for Oct. 2," al-Halbousi told members of the assembly.
Six Daesh terrorists were killed Monday in an airstrike carried out by Iraqi warplanes in the eastern Diyala province, according to a local police source.Police Captain Habib al-Shimmar told Anadolu Agency that the strikes were “based on intelligence information regarding the location of several Daesh militants -- including a group leader -- near Diyala’s northern city of Khanaqin”.According to al-Shimmar, Monday’s airstrike “completely destroyed” its target.Recent months have seen frequent attacks by Daesh terrorists on security personnel stationed in Iraq’s northern and eastern provinces.Last year, Iraqi officials declared that Daesh's military presence in the country had been all but destroyed following a three-year conflict with the army.Nevertheless, the group appears to have maintained a limited presence in certain parts of the country, against which Iraqi security forces continue to carry out frequent operations.h terrorist nabbed after police hunt in TurkeyDaesh terrorist nabbed after police hunt in Turkey
Six Daesh terrorists killed by airstrike in Iraq's Diyala
On Monday, Abbas Beyatli, deputy leader of Iraq’s Turkmen Nationalist Movement, also announced his intention to vie for the post.
And on Sunday, Sirve Abdulvahid, an independent politician of Kurdish origin, likewise announced her candidacy, becoming Iraq’s first female politician to do so.
Once elected by lawmakers, the new president will task the majority bloc in parliament with drawing up a new government.