The sitting president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq has been re-elected in a landslide victory. The official results show Massud Barzani won just under 70 percent of the vote in Saturday's poll.

Mr Barzani's Kurdish Democratic Party and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the region's two most powerful parties, fought the election for the regional assembly as a coalition. Together, they gained 57 percent of the assembly votes.

The opposition bloc, Change, won 24 percent, more than was expected. Despite its good showing, Change says it was the victim of electoral fraud.

Turnout in the elections was high, with nearly 80 percent of the Kurdish electorate casting a ballot.

photo: Barzani supporters (flickr.com/Kurdistan)