¡¡¡¡TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in northern Iraq, heading a political delegation of the party, arrived in Tehran early Sunday, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

¡¡¡¡Barzani is to discuss with Iranian officials as well as heads ofthe Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq the ouster ofIraqi President Saddam Hussein and an election of a new leader accepted by all Iraqi groups.

¡¡¡¡Barzani is expected to meet Iranian parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi, IRNA said.

¡¡¡¡Local political pundits were also quoted as saying another Kurdish leader and head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Jalal Talabani, is possibly to visit Iran in the forthcoming days.

¡¡¡¡The two Kurdish leaders are expected to participate in a Dec. 13-15 meeting in London where 300 delegates of the six Iraqi opposition groups will convene to hammer out a power-sharing government to replace Saddam.

¡¡¡¡The meeting comes amid US threats to oust Saddam if Iraq fails to come clean on its nuclear arms programs. Washington has also indicated that it may hand over the governorship of Iraq to an American general after Saddam's ouster.

¡¡¡¡Iraqi opposition groups, however, have expressed their opposition to any US interference in the country's future. Both Talabani and Barzani stressed in Brussels last month that they would not participate in any US-led military action against Iraq.

¡¡¡¡The two Kurdish leaders have said they want to be part of a future Iraqi government and have a say in it. Enditem