The two vetran Kurdish leaders of the two main parties -- the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (R), currently also President of Iraq, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of regional president Massud Barzani speaks to the press in Dokan, 65 kms northwest of the city of Sulaimaniyah on May 3, 2009. Iraq's autonomous Kurds go to the polls this summer in an election likely to redraw the local political map and bring factional violence to the otherwise calm region. The two Kurdish parties that have dominated politics for decades will confront new challengers in the election for the regional parliament, including from their own ranks, and few expect them to bow out peacefully. Getty Images logo Getty Images 34 months ago

The two vetran Kurdish leaders of the two main parties -- the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (R), currently also President of Iraq, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of regional president Massud Barzani speaks to the press in Dokan, 65 kms northwest of the city of Sulaimaniyah on May 3, 2009. Iraq's autonomous Kurds go to the polls this summer in an election likely to redraw the local political map and bring factional violence to the otherwise calm region. The two Kurdish parties that have dominated politics for decades will confront new challengers in the election for the regional parliament, including from their own ranks, and few expect them to bow out peacefully.

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