The President of the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani on Sunday told a closed-door session of parliament that he was stepping down from his post on November 1, a local media reported.

"I refuse to continue the position of president of the Kurdish region after November 1," Rudaw Kurdish media said quoting a letter sent by Barzani to the regional parliament session held in the regional capital Erbil.

"Changing the law on the presidency of Kurdistan or prolonging the presidential term is not acceptable," Barzani said.

He said that a meeting must be held as soon as possible so that "there will be no legal vacuum in the duties of the president of the region."

However, Barzani pledged to continue his long mission as a Peshmerga "to sacrifice and struggle for the rights and demands of our people as well as preserve the achievements of our people," the letter read.

source: Xinhua