ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The Kurdish parliament in northern Iraq on Sunday elected veteran leader Masoud Barzani as president of the region, giving the group greater autonomy after decades of oppression under Saddam Hussein.Adnan al-Mufti, speaker of the Kurdish parliament, told a news conference that parliament unanimously elected Barzani, whose long-time rival Jalal Talabani, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), became Iraq's president earlier this year.
Barzani, head of the once rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), will be formally sworn in on Tuesday because poor weather prevented officials from flying to the region from Baghdad for a ceremony on Sunday, officials said.
After months of wrangling following an election at the same time as national voting on Jan. 30, the show of support for Barzani in the new post strengthens the Kurds' grip on the north of Iraq and may bolster their bid to ensure they maintain their autonomy once a new constitution is drawn up in Baghdad.
That independence came with U.S. military support after Saddam Hussein's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War. It was jeopardized by a civil war between the KDP and PUK. But for a decade Kurds have enjoyed greater prosperity than other Iraqis.
The 20-percent Kurdish minority has joined Arab Shi'ites who make up more than half Iraq's population to supplant Saddam's Sunni Arab minority in power, stirring resentments among Sunnis.
Hundreds of Kurds celebrated in several cities in the north after Barzani was named president. Some waved Kurdish flags.
"Barzani's election is the beginning of the realization of the Kurdish dream of independence and the building of the Kurdish state in the region," said 24-year-old student Sara Ahmed in the city of Sulaimaniya.
SOME IRAQIS RESENTFUL
But in Baghdad, some Iraqis criticized the election of Barzani, son of Kurdish nationalist leader Mustafa Barzani.
"Having another Kurdish president is unacceptable to Sunnis like myself," said Tarek Adeeb, a transport company employee.
Firaas Maher, a Christian, said too much influence in the hands of one group threatened to exclude other communities.
"During Saddam's time he only helped the people closest to him while we were left to live in the dirt. I don't want that to happen again," said the mobile telephone shop employee.
The Kurds have been pushing for a fully federal Iraq, something the Arab majority is less keen on. Moreover, the Kurds want the oil center of Kirkuk as their capital, a demand that has angered Arabs and Turkmen also vying for influence in the city which lies south of the present Kurdish borders.
Iraqi Kurdish aspirations have also angered powerful northern neighbor Turkey, concerned over its own restive Kurdish population.
Barzani will lead one of Iraq's most peaceful regions.
But Sunni Islamist insurgents such as al Qaeda's leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi consider Kurdish leaders infidel puppets of the United States.
A suicide bomber struck the offices of Barzani's party in Arbil in May, killing at least 46 people. Arbil also suffered heavy losses last year when twin suicide bombings hit the offices of the two main Kurdish parties, killing 117 people.
Kurds will also face internal challenges. Political rivalries have strained ties between Kurds and slowed efforts to build a regional government in the north and tensions between the PUK and KDP could surface again.
