Until very recently the field of challengers looked uninspiring, particularly after the abrupt withdrawal of Muhammad Khatami, a liberal reformer who won overwhelming victories to serve as president from 1997-2005.

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Mr Pallister sounds almost like a Reformer, and would be happiest of the five in the anti-Liberal coalition that the Reform leader, Preston Manning, hopes to launch (as the United Alternative) next February.

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But it looked as if the party with the most votes was the one led by Mahmoud Jibril, a sensible modernising reformer who claims to be something between a secular liberal and a mild Islamist.

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