Cristhian Stuani scored twice on his Premier League debut as Middlesbrough beat Sunderland in the first Wear-Tees league derby in seven and a half years.

Alvaro Negredo assisted both goals, with Stuani's opener a brilliant 25-yard effort into the top corner.
The Spaniard then unselfishly squared to Stuani for their second.
The Black Cats improved in the second half and Patrick van Aanholt gave them hope when he turned home after Brad Guzan parried Duncan Watmore's shot.
'I fear for Sunderland - even with Moyes in charge' - Kevin Kilbane's MOTD2 analysis
David Moyes' side had been booed off after a first half which saw them fail to test Boro debutant Guzan, replacing the injured Victor Valdes.
But after a second-half revival, they almost had a draw when Guzan fumbled another shot, but Donald Love turned the rebound wide.
Relive the game, plus reaction, here.
Middlesbrough's summer signing of Negredo on loan, only a year after Valencia paid £21.25m for the striker from Manchester City, caused some surprise.
A haul of five goals in La Liga last season meant his £100,000-a-week wages would be a gamble for newly promoted Boro.
But a goal on his debut against Stoke was followed by another key performance. He set up the opener for Stuani, although the goal was very much of the Uruguayan's own making as he smashed home from distance.
Negredo only assisted three goals in 40 games for Valencia last season, but had his second of the day when he could have gone alone. The 31-year-old Spain striker had space to shoot but instead, with goalkeeper Vito Mannone braced to attempt a save, Negredo rolled it across to Stuani to fire home.
Sunderland boss Moyes decided to start with Paddy McNair, usually a defender, in midfield alongside Jack Rodwell. And when they needed a tactical reshuffle following an injury to centre-back John O'Shea, it was Rodwell, rather than McNair who dropped back to defence.
But when Moyes scrapped that experiment at half-time and replaced McNair with midfielder Jeremain Lens, they made a game of it.
After the break they had more shots (14-3), more possession and more passes - having been behind on all of those counts in the first half.
But with 34-year-old debutant Steven Pienaar the only Sunderland player other than Jermain Defoe to have more than 10 Premier League goals in his career, they rarely looked like scoring - with the exception of Van Aanholt's goal.
Sunderland boss David Moyes told BBC Sport: "I did not think we deserved to be 2-0 down at half-time. After we lost John O'Shea, we did not get quite sorted. We did not take some chances but they did.
"We played well, we had a great level of intensity but ran out with 10 minutes to go. We have so many young boys and are at the bare bones. The boys did try to win and score in the second half but were unlucky.
"I took positives from the first half, we played well. Overall, they were fine."
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Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka: "The most important thing as always is the points. It's always important to win, especially in a derby and for our crowd who have been waiting for this moment for a long time, so I'm pleased for the players and the crowd.
"The key was the first half. I told the players they would start at 150% but with players of the quality of Cristhian Stuani we were able to score a first goal like that which opened up the game.
"In the second half we had problems but that's normal. The players showed we are ready for the season. We are playing well, compact and with intensity so it was important to get points as quickly as possible."
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The North East rivals are both in EFL Cup second-round action on Wednesday. Boro go to Fulham, with the Black Cats hosting Shrewsbury.
Sunderland's next league game is at Southampton on Saturday, while Boro go to West Brom the next day.
Match ends, Sunderland 1, Middlesbrough 2.
Second Half ends, Sunderland 1, Middlesbrough 2.
Foul by Albert Adomah (Middlesbrough).
Donald Love (Sunderland) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution, Middlesbrough. David Nugent replaces Álvaro Negredo.
Foul by Cristhian Stuani (Middlesbrough).
Lynden Gooch (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
George Friend (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Papy Djilobodji (Sunderland).
Corner,  Sunderland. Conceded by Ben Gibson.
Attempt missed. Adam Clayton (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Stewart Downing.
Attempt blocked. George Friend (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Substitution, Middlesbrough. Daniel Ayala replaces Nsue.
Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Donald Love (Sunderland).
Substitution, Sunderland. Joel Asoro replaces Duncan Watmore.
Lynden Gooch (Sunderland) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt blocked. Jeremain Lens (Sunderland) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Donald Love.
Álvaro Negredo (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Lynden Gooch (Sunderland).
Foul by Álvaro Negredo (Middlesbrough).
Papy Djilobodji (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner,  Sunderland. Conceded by Brad Guzan.
Attempt saved. Adnan Januzaj (Sunderland) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Steven Pienaar.
Attempt blocked. Lynden Gooch (Sunderland) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Adnan Januzaj.
Goal!  Sunderland 1, Middlesbrough 2. Patrick van Aanholt (Sunderland) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.
Attempt saved. Duncan Watmore (Sunderland) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Jeremain Lens.
Foul by Cristhian Stuani (Middlesbrough).
Patrick van Aanholt (Sunderland) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt blocked. Jeremain Lens (Sunderland) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Foul by Adam Clayton (Middlesbrough).
Jeremain Lens (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Jermain Defoe (Sunderland) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Patrick van Aanholt.
Attempt missed. Adnan Januzaj (Sunderland) left footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Duncan Watmore with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Sunderland. Conceded by George Friend.
Corner,  Sunderland. Conceded by George Friend.
Attempt blocked. Jeremain Lens (Sunderland) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Adnan Januzaj.
Attempt blocked. Albert Adomah (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Adam Forshaw.
Corner,  Sunderland. Conceded by Brad Guzan.
Attempt saved. Patrick van Aanholt (Sunderland) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.


Meadowlark Lemon, the Harlem Globetrotters player known as the "clown prince" of basketball, has died at the age of 83.

Lemon played for the side for 24 years, delighting fans with his trick shots and hijinks.
When he was inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 2003 he said his destiny had been "to make people happy".
The team confirmed that he died on Sunday in Scottsville, Arizona.
"He was an incredible entertainer and brought happiness and lifelong memories to millions around the world," said Globetrotters chief executive Kurt Schneider.
"We have lost a great ambassador of the game."
Lemon grew up in North Carolina and joined the Harlem Globetrotters in 1954.
He quickly became known for his hook shots from half court and no-look behind-the-back passes, but also for his showmanship.
He was renowned for comedy routines such as tipping water buckets full of confetti over referees and audiences.
Many of the all-black team's tours took them through the racially-torn southern US states in the 1950s.
The Globetrotters became world famous, even playing games in Moscow during the Cold War when they met Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
In the early 1970s, the team - including Lemon - featured in a Hanna-Barbara cartoon series.
He left the Globetrotters in 1979 and launched several of his own basketball teams.
In an interview with US broadcaster ABC in 2001, Lemon said the Harlem Globetrotters were never driven by money.
"We were having fun; we enjoyed what we did and I find that the young kids today, you know, they either go to college to learn to play basketball so they can make a lot of money. This wasn't with us.
"We enjoyed what we did. I just wanted to be out there and entertain."


Forty years ago this week, the Bay City Rollers were the biggest pop band in the UK and were about to the hit the United States, as the Scottish teen sensations rolled on towards turning the whole world tartan.

"They were adorable. Five cute guys at once. That's the story of rock n roll," says US journalist Danny Fields.
"The invention of boy bands became an industry thanks to the Bay City Rollers."
As the editor of 16, an influential American teen magazine, Fields was part of a press junket to Scotland in the summer of 1975 to witness the phenomenon that was driving teenage girls in the UK wild.
Fields says watching the scenes on the streets of Glasgow was like witnessing the triumphant return of conquering heroes in an epic movie.
"It was like Ben Hur except it was all these girls wearing ugly pants," he told the BBC Scotland documentary Rollermania: The Biggest boy band in the world.
Music publicist Carol Strauss Klenfner, who organised the press trip, says: "It was just crazy, 12-year-olds and 14-year-olds all dressed up in Roller garb, with that look in their eye, of love. It was young love personified.
"They were so young and so fresh-faced. They were these wonderful Scottish fair complexions with rosy cheeks. They were wild-eyed and they could sure scream loud."
Fields and Strauss Klenfner were witnessing the high-point of Rollermania in the UK, with number one singles, sell-outs tours, the band's own TV show and thousands of hysterical tartan-clad teenage fans screaming at them wherever they went.
But getting to that point had not been easy.
It had been nine years since two Edinburgh brothers - Alan and Derek Longmuir - had formed a band with their school mates.
The Saxons decided they wanted a more American-sounding name and stuck a pin in a map of the US, landing in Bay City, Michigan.
Personnel changes and the arrival of local pop promoter Tam Paton as their manager drove the band on as they gathered a loyal following around Edinburgh.
By 1971, Paton had landed the Rollers a deal with Bell records and they had a hit single, "Keep on Dancing", which crept up the charts to number nine.
Alan Longmuir says: "It was brilliant. We were just young guys. I was a plumber to-trade, my brother was a joiner, Nobby, the singer, was a joiner."
But it was a false dawn and their next two singles failed to make the charts.
Paton made changes to the line-up and to the band's look but by the end of 1972 the Rollers were starting to look like a one-hit wonder.
Bell Records brought in hit-makers Phil Coulter and Bill Martin, who had written Britain's first Eurovision Song Contest winner, Puppet on a String, for Sandy Shaw in 1967.
Martin, who was from Govan, says: "I was always looking for a Scottish band and I thought they were quite special. Quite different from any other pop group."
Coulter was impressed by the band's "unshakeable" belief they would be superstars but he says the reality was they could hardly tune their own guitars.
He insisted session musicians were used to lay down the tracks in the studio because it would take too long to get the right sound from the band.
As they worked on the new sound, there were more changes in the band's line-up with Les McKeown brought in to replace Nobby Clark as the lead singer.
Another new face was 16-year-old Stuart Wood.
He says: "I was gobsmacked. I'd only been playing guitar just over a year and probably knew about five or six chords."
With the classic line-up in place, and Bill and Phil on board, the hits began to come.
Remember (Sha La La La) got to number six in early 1974 but it was Shang-a-Lang that kick-started Rollermania.
Producer Bill Martin says: "It was phenomenal. It just took off like a rocket."
Stuart Wood says: "From not having anyone screaming to having thousands of people screaming at you was pretty quick."
"The noise was colossal," says Martin. "They were a sensation."
According to Coulter the big difference was the age of the girls buying the records and screaming at the band.
They were not 16 or 17 but instead were much younger.
"This was whole new thing," he says. "That was the gap in the market."
At the end of 1974, their debut album - Rolling - was at number one but the Rollers were not happy.
Coulter says the band wanted to be more hands-on, writing their songs and playing on their own tracks.
He refused and the band demanded a new producer.
Phil Wainman was given the task of keeping the hits coming but the Rollers had to play and sing on the records.
"That was quite a task," he says.
But it was one he was equal to and in early 1975 Bye Bye Baby went to number one and stayed there for six weeks.
Wainman says: "It was selling 75,000 a day. You can have a hit these days with just 20,000 records."
The next single "Give a little love" also went to number one and Rollermania took over the country.
The band even had their own TV show.
At the height of the mania the Rollers undertook their biggest UK tour to-date.
"That was a crazy tour," says McKeown.
"We would go on and the police would make us stop because they just could not control the crowd."
The strain of constant touring was compounded when, on a rare visit home to Edinburgh, McKeown ran over and killed a 76-year-old woman.
He says: "I can remember just being in complete shock. I don't know how long it took me to come out of that shock.
"In retrospect I should have dealt with the issue in a much more comprehensive way."
The day after the accident McKeown rejoined the tour.
The Rollers management had no time to give McKeown a chance to deal with the incident, they were already planning the next stage of their global domination by breaking them in America.
Music mogul Clive Davis of Arista Records picked "Saturday Night" as their first single in the US, a Bill and Phil production that had failed to chart in the UK in 1973.
On 20 September 1975, the Rollers performed at London Weekend Television and were beamed by satellite into the homes of 30 million unsuspecting Americans.
Their performance ended with a stage invasion that left Woody and Les in hospital.
Ten days later the Rollers were on their way to America.
Details of their flight arrival were leaked to fans so they got a rapturous reception as they touched down.
Phil Wainman says: "I went out there and witnessed this unbelievable happening at JFK.
"It was like the Beatles all over again. In fact it might have been bigger."
By January 1976, Saturday Night had climbed to the top of the US Billboard chart.
According to Bill Martin it sold 12 million records.
Despite success around the world, the cracks were showing and founder member Alan Longmuir quit the band in April 1976.
He says: "I was getting depressed. I just couldn't take it any more."
New members came and went and the hits started to slow.
The band sold 120 million records and conquered the UK, US, Australia and Japan but music journalist Caroline Sullivan says that by late 1977 they had declined in popularity quite a bit.
"There is obviously a sell-by date for all boy bands and the Rollers were reaching theirs.
"They had a really good run. The fans were growing up and The Rollers themselves were obviously completely fed up with it."
The band finally imploded when McKeown left in 1978 and bitter battles over the money they should have been paid dragged on for years.
Derek Longmuir says: "We were definitely ripped off but there was a big element of naivety as well.
"People would come along and tell you, 'you guys just concentrate on the music and we'll do the business stuff' and you just accepted that."
Bill Martin says: "I have no qualms about saying about Tam Paton that he was a disgrace. He deserved to die a broken man because those wee boys should have had everything."
Rollermania: Britain's biggest boy band is on BBC One Scotland at 21:00 on Monday 14 September.


Heavy drinking remains a major problem stretching health services in Wales, a new report has warned.

Alcohol is responsible for around one-in-20 of all deaths in Wales - 29 a week - says Public Health Wales.
Higher proportions of children in Wales aged 11 to 16 were drinking alcohol than in England or Scotland.
The report said progress was being made, with heavy drinking falling among adults under 45, but it could be on the increase among older people.
Although alcohol consumption in Wales had fallen slightly since 2008, the report Alcohol and Health in Wales warned that Welsh hospitals were still handling 1,000 alcohol-related admissions every week.
Prof Mark Bellis at Public Health Wales said: "We need to help people make the right choices about their own drinking.
"Too many drinkers fail to recognise how even moderate drinking can increase their risks of developing diseases such as cancer.
"The normalisation of drinking at a young age is also especially harmful and our problems with alcohol must be tackled early in life," he added.
Andrea Gartner, project lead for the report, added: "This new report provides a comprehensive analysis of alcohol consumption patterns and the impact of alcohol on health.
"It will provide stakeholders with the necessary information to inform action and drive change."


A police officer has been sacked after he "deliberately targeted" a divorce solicitor who represented his ex-wife.

PC Nathan Lawn purposely pulled the solicitor over in her car for failing to wear a seatbelt, a Norfolk Police misconduct hearing was told.
PC Lawn was "rude and confrontational" and tried to ensure she got a fine and not sent on a driver awareness course.
The hearing was also told he used his position as an officer to try to discredit his ex-wife.
He was dismissed without notice following the hearing.
On 6 October last year, PC Lawn stopped the solicitor in Blofield, Norfolk, to issue her with a traffic offence report (TOR) over the seatbelt infringement.
"At the time PC Lawn knew that she was a solicitor who had represented his ex-wife during his divorce proceedings," the hearing was told.
"PC Lawn deliberately targeted the solicitor when making the stop because she had represented his ex-wife during divorce proceedings.
"During the stop PC Lawn was rude and confrontational towards the solicitor."
He then made a "concerted effort to seek to influence" the outcome of the ticket he issued to ensure the solicitor was fined.
The misconduct hearing, on 8 May, was also told the former PC used his status as an officer to pursue misconduct allegations against his ex-wife with her employer.
After being told the outcome of her firm's investigation, he contacted senior staff on a "number of occasions to overturn" its findings.
He also sought to have the decision reviewed by the Health and Care Professions Council.
"This amounted to an extended and committed campaign to discredit his ex-wife," the hearing was told.
In dismissing PC Lawn, the force hearing found the officer's conduct breached the expected standards of professional behaviour.


Angela Eagle has said she can provide the leadership "in dark times for Labour" that Jeremy Corbyn cannot, as she launched her leadership challenge.

Ex-shadow business secretary Ms Eagle said she wanted to bring the party and the country "back together".
Labour Party general secretary Iain McNicol said he had received enough nominations to trigger a contest.
Mr Corbyn has refused to step down since losing the support of most of his MPs in a vote of no confidence.
Launching her leadership bid, Ms Eagle said: "I'm not a Blairite.  I'm not a Brownite.  I'm not a Corbynista.  I am my own woman."
The party's ruling committee, the National Executive Committee, is expected to decide this week whether Mr Corbyn needs the backing of MPs to stand in the contest.
Ms Eagle said she would not have stood for leader "if I did not think I could be a good prime minister for Britain".
"These are dark times for Labour. And they are dangerous times for our country."
Ms Eagle said Mr Corbyn, who has faced numerous frontbench resignations - including her own on 27 June - was unable to hold the government to account and then replace it by winning a general election.
"Jeremy Corbyn is unable to provide the leadership this huge task needs," she said.
"I believe I can."
When asked if her chances were doomed if Mr Corbyn was allowed on the leadership ballot paper, she said:  "I don't go in for suicide missions."
She said the EU referendum result had left the UK "divided and uncertain".
While she had supported the Remain campaign, she said the vote to leave was for many "a howl of pain".
The questions now were how to bring hope to parts of the country that felt neglected, how to protect jobs, investment and living standards and how to remain an open, tolerant society, she said.
Ms Eagle said she would "not stand back and allow Britain to become a one-party Tory state".
"It's about giving hope to people all over the country that Labour can be an alternative government, ready and equipped to serve," she said.
"I will unite, I will not divide. I can bring our party together again."
Another potential leadership contender, Owen Smith, said earlier that he was to hold crisis talks with Mr Corbyn to put ideas to him about how to "avert a damaging contest" and a party split.
But Mr Corbyn has said he would not "betray" the party members who elected him last year by standing down.
He has also suggested he would be willing to challenge the executive's decision in court if they say he is not automatically included on the leadership ballot paper.
There is a dispute in the party about whether, as leader, Mr Corbyn would be automatically given a place on a new ballot, or whether he would need the backing of MPs and MEPs to do so.
Anyone wishing to challenge Mr Corbyn needs the backing of 20% of Labour MPs and MEPs - which currently means 51.
Some say Mr Corbyn would also need this backing to be able to stand, but his supporters say he has an automatic place as leader.
A long-standing member of the National Executive Committee, Christine Shawcroft, told the BBC the relevant section of the rulebook refers only to "potential challengers".
And Unite union leader Len McCluskey has said excluding Mr Corbyn would be "a declaration of civil war" and warned of "the mother of all splits" if he is kept off the ballot paper.
But Harriet Harman, former deputy Labour leader, insisted that Mr Corbyn would have to have the support of 20% of the party's MPs to get on a new ballot "because the leader needs to lead an alternative Labour government".
Mr Corbyn received the backing of only 40 MPs in a confidence vote in which 172 expressed opposition to his leadership of the party.
By Ross Hawkins, BBC political correspondent
Jeremy Corbyn has suggested he may go to court if he's not automatically on the ballot paper in Labour's leadership election.
His rivals say he needs the support of a fifth of Labour MPs and MEPs to compete; he says he doesn't.
Two different and completely contradictory bits of legal advice have been obtained. Who's right? This is the key passage in the party rule book:
Do the words "in this case any nomination" apply only to challengers, or do they suggest the sitting leader needs the backing of MPs and MEPs too?
Mr Corbyn's opponents say there is a precedent. When Neil Kinnock - then leader - was challenged by Tony Benn in 1988 Lord Kinnock says he sought nominations.
One barrister active in Labour politics, and a fierce critic of Mr Corbyn, Jolyon Maugham QC, told the Today programme the rules had changed since then and the words above do not force the current leader to find Parliamentary friends.
Don't be fooled into thinking this is just a legal dispute though; the rulebook is another battleground for a bitter political scrap.
Labour's ruling committee, the NEC, will decide and their decision may then be challenged in court.
Whatever the result, the losing side in the dispute won't cheerfully accept it.
Those trying to replace Mr Corbyn argue any leader who can't get the support of 20% - just 51 - of his MPs is a pretty hopeless leader.
The other side say the argument shows the Labour leader's challengers are afraid of a fair fight.


A factory owner who ran his bed-making business on a "slave workforce" of men paid as little £10 a day has been jailed for two years and three months.

Mohammed Rafiq, 60, employed large numbers of Hungarians at his firm Kozee Sleep and its subsidiary Layzee Sleep, which supplied retailers like John Lewis, Next and Dunelm Mill.
Police said the men had "no contract, no rights and were exploited terribly".
Rafiq, of Thorncliffe Road, Batley, was convicted of conspiracy to traffic.
For more on this story and others across West Yorkshire
An investigation into Rafiq's businesses in Dewsbury and Batley found he had knowingly employed men trafficked into the UK by Hungarian nationals Janos Orsos and Ferenc Illes for about two years.
At trial, the jury heard Rafiq knew Orsos's organisation would source him "cheap slave labour" and he "went along with their exploitation as a slave workforce".
The jury also heard how ethical audits by leading high street retailers failed to spot what was going on.
The men were promised good wages, housing and food if they travelled to the UK but found themselves living in shared, cramped and squalid accommodation.
Jailing Rafiq at Leeds Crown Court, judge Christopher Batty said Orsos was a "ruthless gangmaster" who preyed on his countrymen, but that his "hideous exploitation" was only possible with the help of businessmen like him.
He said: "You accepted the cheap labour that he found you regardless of how they were being treated. I'm satisfied you did nothing to help, you did not care."
Det Insp Andy Leonard, from West Yorkshire Police, said the men had been "controlled heavily" by the traffickers.
"They had very little money, they were not allowed out and they were transported to and from the workplace.
"They worked long hours, they worked seven days a week, up to 15 or 16 hours a day, every single day of the week for little or no pay.
"They had no contract, no rights and were exploited terribly."
He said Orsos had been paid £200 per week for each worker but would only give the men £10 each, leaving them "totally helpless and totally controlled".
One man who was trafficked to the UK and put to work in Rafiq's factory said: "I could not comprehend how they could do this. There were people there who had been living there in abject poverty, struggling for three or four years."
Orsos and Illes were jailed for five years and three years respectively in 2014 after admitting people trafficking offences.


A thief who stole or attempted to steal from five women who were aged between 62 and 80 has been jailed for three years at Inverness Sheriff Court.

Peter MacMillan, 41, described as a prisoner in Inverness, broke into homes in the Dalneigh area of Inverness.
He stole money, gift vouchers and jewellery.
MacMillan admitted five offences which included attempted theft and theft by housebreaking between 9 May and 6 June this year.
Defence agent Duncan Henderson said there was little he could say on behalf of his client other than he immediately wanted to plead guilty.
Sentencing MacMillan, Sheriff Margaret Neilson told him: "You have a bad record of crimes of dishonesty but these charges take your offending to a whole different level.
"You deliberately targeted vulnerable women living on their own.
"Housebreaking is a disgraceful crime as it makes people feel violated and scared in their own homes."
Following sentencing, Andrew McIntyre, procurator fiscal for sheriff and jury cases in the north of Scotland, said MacMillan targeted the homes of older people.
Mr McIntyre said: "Such offences can have a devastating effect on victims' sense of security in their own home and that's why we have a prosecution policy focussed on tackling crimes against older people."
He added: "Not only will this sentence protect the public but I hope it will make clear to others that crimes such as these, perpetrated targeting some of the more vulnerable in our community, will be dealt with swiftly and effectively."


UK Independence Party leader Lord Pearson of Rannoch is to stand down after less than a year in the position.

In his resignation statement, Lord Pearson said he was "not much good" at party politics and UKIP "deserved a better politician... to lead it".
The outgoing leader had a difficult general election campaign, telling one interviewer he could not remember his own manifesto in detail.
An interim leader will be chosen at UKIP's annual conference next month.
By r hPolitical correspondent
During the general election campaign, Lord Pearson was asked by the BBC about his party's policy on regulating banks. He said he had not come on the programme to "deal with the minutiae".
Asked whether he had read his own manifesto, he confessed: "I haven't remembered it all in detail."
Journalists were not the only people who made the former Conservative peer's election an uncomfortable experience.
He also faced angry internal opposition to his policy of supporting Eurosceptic candidates from rival parties in certain seats.
It is little surprise that at times the strain appeared to show.
But leading UKIP is no easy job. It faces all the organisational and financial trials of a small party, with some of the responsibilities and profile of a much larger political organisation.
Profile: UKIP leader Lord Pearson
Analysis: 'Not much good at party politcs'
One of UKIP's two deputy leaders - Euro MP David Campbell Bannerman - is planning to stand in the contest to replace Lord Pearson, a spokesman said.
Lord Pearson's predecessor, Nigel Farage, said he would not announce whether he would stand until the conference.
Lord Pearson was elected in November 2009, after Mr Farage stepped down to concentrate on contesting the Buckingham parliamentary seat, which was held at the general election by Commons Speaker John Bercow.
Resigning as leader, Lord Pearson, 68, said he wanted to "spend more time on his wider interests" which included "the treatment of people with intellectual impairment, teacher training, the threat from Islamism and the relationship between good and evil" - as well as his dogs and family.
UKIP had increased its vote by 50% in the general election and "had many exciting plans for the future", he said, but it was time for a "younger leader" to show how "liberating and enriching life would be outside the EU", saying he was "confident" one would emerge.
He said the party had "never been more important for our freedom as a self-governing democracy" and had to "go on telling the truth about Europe".
"We have a coalition government which supports every new power grab by Brussels: supervision of our financial services; an EU diplomatic corps; new police and surveillance powers; bailing out the folly that is the euro.
"Much of this is illegal under the Treaties, but that has never worried Brussels or the Luxembourg Court, which now make most of our national law in a secretive process over which Parliament has no control.
"History teaches us that trouble lies ahead when a regime is free to break its own laws with impunity, when it is supported by a puppet court, and when its people are powerless to get rid of it. That is what the European Union has become, and the only way out is the door," he said.
Mr Farage, who was hurt in a plane crash on polling day in May, said he had yet to decide whether to stand for re-election to his old job.
He told the BBC: "I'm not going to say I'm absolutely not going to do the job again but I've got to decide, in the wake of that accident, whether I'm strong enough to take the job on.
"The other problem is I'm still leading a group in the European Parliament in Brussels. Can I do that and lead a party in the UK?"
He added: "I'm sad that he [Lord Pearson] is going... I don't think today's the day to announce whether one intends or not to run."


The chair that Harry Potter author JK Rowling sat on while writing the first two books has sold in the US for around Â£280,000.

She had picked up the chair for free in Edinburgh before the books were published, and then had hand-painted them.
The chair has messages written from JK Rowling, including: "O, you may not find me pretty but don't judge on what you see" and "I wrote Harry Potter while sitting on this chair".
The chair also comes with a letter written by the author, saying that the chair hurt her back.
It reads: "I was given four mismatched dining room chairs in 1995 and this was the comfiest one, which is why it ended up stationed permanently in front of my typewriter, supporting me while I typed out Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. My nostalgic side is quite sad to see it go, but my back isn't."


Birmingham City ended their three-game losing run at home in the Championship, but let a 2-0 lead slip as Preston North End battled back to earn a point.

Clayton Donaldson put Blues in front when he tapped in after Anders Lindegaard saved Diego Fabbrini's shot.
Birmingham doubled their lead through Donaldson's close-range finish after David Cotterill's shot was saved.
Alan Browne fired home Tom Clarke's cross to give North End hope before Greg Cunningham fired in an equaliser.
Birmingham, who had lost all their three previous games at St Andrew's 2-1, remain in ninth place - but now cannot reach the play-offs.
Preston North End stay a place below Blues in 10th as they recorded their 16th draw in the Championship this season.
Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett told BBC WM:
Media playback is not supported on this device
"I have told the players that the last 15 minutes was one of the weakest I've seen in a game.
"It probably sums up our season since March. We need to be tougher, more professional and more disciplined.
"We can have a shake-up because, if that is the level of performance that people are happy with as a top-10 side, I am certainly not happy.
"I will make sure that I will not have players in the team who are happy with that kind of performance."
Preston manager Simon Grayson:
"We showed fantastic character to get back in the game and it was the right result when you see the number of saves Tomasz Kuszczak had to make and the times we hit the post.
"We want to maintain where we are in the league and not drop out of the top-10 position where we are at present.
"We are now looking to a good home game against Burnley when I hope that we can get all three points."


The van which drove into worshippers near a north London mosque belongs to a Welsh hire firm.

One man has died and 10 people have been injured after a van mounted a pavement near Finsbury Park Mosque.
Forensics officers are examining a white van which has Pontyclun Van Hire on it - a Rhondda Cynon Taff firm.
The van driver, a 48-year-old man, has been arrested and Home Secretary Amber Rudd said police were treating it "as a terrorist incident".
Just after 00:20 BST, the van hit people who were helping a man who had collapsed in the street. He later died, but his cause of death is unclear.
All the victims were Muslim and the 48-year-old, described by Prime Minister Theresa May as a white man, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
South Wales Police officers arrived at Pontyclun Van Hire just after 07:30 BST on Monday.
The company said: "We at Pontyclun Van Hire are shocked and saddened by the incident that took place at Finsbury Park last night.
"We are co-operating fully with the Metropolitan Police investigation and our thoughts are with those who have been injured in this cowardly attack.
"We will not be making any further statement because of the on going police investigation but will continue to assist the police in any way we can."
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said he had spoken with the chief constable of South Wales Police and was told "his team is fully engaged and working in partnership with the London Metropolitan Police as the investigation into the abhorrent attack at Finsbury Park gets under way".
Eyewitness to the attack, Abdul Rahman, said the driver said he wanted to "kill all Muslims".
Mr Rahman told the BBC he struck the man and helped subdue him until the police arrived.
Police said the arrested man had been taken to hospital as a precaution and would be taken into custody once discharged.
Ms Rudd said: "Londoners have been hit with a series of attacks and have actually been nothing short of heroic."
In a statement, Finsbury Park Mosque said it "condemns in the strongest terms a heinous terrorist attack".
It added: "This is a callous terrorist attack which coincides with the murdered MP, Jo Cox, anniversary."
Mosque chairman, Mohammed Kozbar, described it as "a cowardly attack which is no different than the attacks in Manchester and London".
The Muslim Council of Wales said it was "horrified", adding: "This weekend was declared by the Jo Cox Foundation as a moment to celebrate her legacy that 'we have more in common than divides us'.
"We urge all to remember her message today."
Some witnesses at the scene - near Finsbury Park Station and Arsenal's Emirates Stadium - said more than one attacker may have been involved.
But the Met said: "At this early stage of this investigation, no other suspects at the scene have been identified or reported to police, however the investigation continues."
Extra police are being deployed to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said.
Mrs May, who chaired a meeting of the government's Cobra committee, called the attack "sickening," saying it "targeted the ordinary and the innocent".
She said the early indications suggested the attacker acted alone, but extra officers had been deployed and the security needs of mosques would continue to be assessed.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "I'm totally shocked at the incident at Finsbury Park tonight. My thoughts are with those and the community affected by this awful event."


There is a familiarity about this photo, and it could have been taken in many boardrooms around the world - men gathered around a table making plans and cutting deals.

But the lack of women here, among a group of conservative Republicans discussing their healthcare bill with the vice-president, struck a particular nerve.
That's because one of the points under discussion was whether the new bill should mandate that health insurance plans provide "essential benefits" including maternity services.
In January, the White House came in for some flak when President Trump signed an abortion bill surrounded by men.
So the reaction was swift when Vice-President Mike Pence tweeted the photo, with the words: "Appreciated joining @POTUS for meeting with the Freedom Caucus again today This is it. #PassTheBill"
Democratic Senator Patty Murray was one of the first to respond, making an ironic observation.
But it wasn't just women who were upset about it.
Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern described it as an outrage.
Others gave a numeric illustration to make their point.
The president has been keen to include women in the photographs of him signing executive orders, ever since the White House was heavily crticised for an all-male photo of him legislating on abortions, on his first day in the job.
Why are people talking about this photo?
And Dan Scavino, President Trump's social media director, was quick to respond to the criticism on Thursday by tweeting a female-friendly photo of the president and his vice-president negotiating the healthcare bill with a group of moderate Republicans.
Less than a fifth of Republicans in the House of Representatives are women, but gender representation is not just a Republican problem - the US Congress as a whole is still dominated by men.
With 20% female, the US ranks alongside Bangladesh in global terms. In Sweden it's 44%.
The US is not the only country to have an all-male photograph from the corridors of power sparking debate.
Last week, an inaugural girls' council in al-Qassim province in Saudi Arabia was condemned when the first pictures showed 13 men on stage, but no women.
The disquiet over the Mike Pence photo has put the spotlight on the concessions that President Trump is offering to the conservative wing of his party, namely to strip the new health bill of "essential benefits".
Conservatives have long wanted to reverse an Obamacare requirement that all health plans include 10 key benefits, including emergency services, drug use treatment and maternity care.
It has led some people to question why they are paying for services they say they do not need - like pediatric care for people who have no intention of having children.
Republican Senator Pat Roberts expressed that view on Thursday, when asked about the negotiations, saying: "I wouldn't want to lose my mammograms."
He later tweeted an apology: "I deeply regret my comments on a very important topic. Mammograms are essential to women's health & I never intended to indicate otherwise."


The Belfast-based jewellery retailer, Argento, made a pre-tax profit of £1.6m in 2015.

That was slightly lower than 2014 and turnover was also down from £24m to £22m, however, margins improved.
A note in the accounts said the profitable performance came despite "difficult ongoing market conditions".
The company has 50 stores across the UK and Ireland, as well as a significant online business.
The accounts show it employed 320 people in 2015, paying total salaries of £4m.
In 2016, the company plans to open further stores in Scotland, England and the Isle of Man which should see staff numbers rise to more than 500.
Argento was founded by Pete Boyle from Strabane, County Tyrone, who started the business from a stall on Royal Avenue in the 1990s.
It is still controlled by Mr Boyle and his wife -  the accounts show that they received a £4m dividend in 2015.


A Fraserburgh nursery has been told to make "swift" improvements following an inspection which raised concerns about systems designed to protect children.

Peek-a-Boo Nursery has been served with a formal improvement notice.
An unannounced inspection had been carried out last month and the Care Inspectorate said it was concerned that insufficient progress had been made following a visit earlier this year.
Management have been given until the end of May to make improvements.
A spokesman for Peek-a-Boo Nursery said: "We are naturally very disappointed with the findings following the Care Inspectorate's recent visit.
"We will continue to invest in staff training, new resources and to seek external support, to bring the nursery up to the required operating standards and we are encouraged that the Care Inspectorate and Aberdeenshire Council are willing to work with us to remedy this situation.
"We want to assure all parents that we remain absolutely committed to resolving all outstanding areas of concern and would like to thank them for their continued support."
The statement added: "We will work hard to meet the requirements of the Care Inspectorate within the 29 May timescale."


A bus driver has been credited with saving the lives of about 20 passengers when he rushed them off the vehicle moments before it went up in flames.

The bus caught fire on Farnborough Road in the Clifton estate in Nottingham on at 17:36 BST on Friday.
Witnesses described seeing huge flames and hearing a "massive bang".
Nottingham City Transport (NCT) said it was "really proud" of the driver, adding that the cause of the blaze is unknown.
Witnesses reported the bus exploding, but NCT said the bang was caused by a tyre exploding.
Charlotte Betts, who lives next to where the bus caught fire, said: "The bus driver got all his passengers off... he potentially saved all them lives."
She described hearing a "massive bang".
"We ran up the road, just really scared really, to get out the way," she said.
"To be honest I was petrified because all I could think of was if it explodes, I've got my baby, and he's only six months...it was really, really scary."
Jamie Tarbert, a security guard from a nearby supermarket, said the passengers had a "lucky escape".
"If anybody had been caught on it or stuck on the bus it would have been very serious," he said.
"Everyone was running around going pretty mad and then it literally set on fire and blew up right on front of everyone.
"Apparently the bus driver got all of them off in time luckily enough."
An NCT spokeswoman said bus fires were "incredibly rare" and the cause would be independently investigated.
"The driver acted quickly and got everybody off as soon as he realised there was any danger," she said.
"We are really proud of what he did. His primary concern is to make sure his passengers are safe, which is what he did."


The cast of the Trainspotting sequel have gathered in Edinburgh for the film's world premiere.

Original cast members Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner all feature in T2 Trainspotting.
The sequel has been made 21 years after the first film, which followed the lives of a group of heroin addicts.
The original was based on a novel by Irvine Welsh, and the sequel is based on his book Porno.
The new film sees the central characters in the present day, now middle-aged.
Ewan McGregor and Kelly Macdonald were among the stars at the premiere at Cineworld in Edinburgh's Fountain Park.
The trailer for the sequel was released in November.
It opened with Ewan McGregor's character Renton returning to Edinburgh.
He revives his bitter "choose life" motto which has been updated to: "Choose Facebook, choose Twitter, choose Instagram and hope that someone, somewhere, cares".
It also mentions choosing "reality TV, slut-shaming, revenge porn and zero-hour contracts" before saying: "Choose to smother the pain with an unknown dose of an unknown drug."
Much of the filming for the sequel, with director Danny Boyle, took place in Edinburgh and other Scottish locations in 2016.
T2 Trainspotting will be released in UK cinemas on 27 January.


A rare signed photograph taken during the first moon landing has sold for £5,200 at auction.

The shot of the lunar module Eagle ascending from the moon's surface is one of only a few known to exist with the signatures of Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins.
It was given to John Cleveland, whose firm arranged limousines for the astronauts during a 1969 London visit.
It was bought by a space museum in the USA at an auction in Wiltshire.
The 7in (18cm) square shot of the lunar module being guided from the moon's surface by Aldrin and Armstrong was taken by Collins, who stayed on the spacecraft throughout the mission.
It was given to Mr Cleveland as a thank you by the astronauts after he refused to take any payment for the limousines he had supplied.
The Apollo 11 crew were in Britain to receive congratulations from the Queen and Prime Minister Harold Wilson just three months after beating the Russians to complete the first manned mission to the moon.
Mr Cleveland was contacted by the US Embassy as he had a Ford-branded stretched limousine, which the crew preferred to the more traditional Rolls-Royce or Daimler.
Andrew Aldridge, from Henry Aldridge and Son in Devizes, said: "To have all three astronauts autograph a photo is unusual.
"But to have them signing a photo of the Eagle module... only months after arriving back on Earth in October 1969 is exceptional."
Hidden from public view for 47 years, the photograph was sold along with an official itinerary for the crew's day by Mr Cleveland's widow.


Britain's new research chief has said that he won't centrally direct scientific research.

Prof Sir Mark Walport will be responsible for all public research spending in Britain next year.
In an exclusive interview with BBC News, Prof Walport said that he wants to be a "powerful voice for science" in dealing with government.
In the first interview in his new role, he sets out his vision for the new research agency he heads.
Currently, UK research is funded by nine separate organisations. Each body specialises in specific fields, such as environmental research, the physical science and the biosciences.
The system has contributed to Britain leading the world in many areas of research.
The government is replacing it with the United Kingdom Research and Innovation agency (UKRI), which will oversee and co-ordinate the work of the research organisations when it formally takes control on 1 April 2018.
But as its new chief executive, Prof Walport - currently the government's chief scientist - is already working to ensure that the new agency hits the ground running.
Critics of the reform fear that the "super research council" will direct research centrally and be driven by economic priorities and the whims of ministers - rather than support the best curiosity-driven research as the current system allows and encourages.
Prof Walport told me that these fears were "completely wrong".
"We are going to continue to support the brightest minds to tackle the problems as they see them," he told BBC News.
"Our job quite simply is to help the scientific community tackle the whole range of fundamental questions. It simply wouldn't be to anyone at the top of UKRI to pose the questions."
Prof Walport said the individual councils will stay and have a high degree of autonomy. And he pledged to appoint "the strongest people" to lead them.
So if the research councils are going to be left to get on with what they already do so well, why add an extra layer of bureaucracy?
Quite simply, it was because the Treasury was sceptical of what it saw as an uncoordinated research funding system with no strategic oversight or coordinated planning.
The creation of UKRI has already been a success in this respect. Reassured by the restructuring, the Prime Minister announced an extra Â£4.7bn for research spread over four years. In 2020, Prof Walport will have a total of Â£8bn to spend.
But he will be under pressure to deliver, so the investment from the Treasury continues.
He tells me his aim is to make the UK funding system "the best in the world", one fit for purpose in the 21st Century.
"By bringing it all together under the umbrella of UKRI we can have a powerful voice for research and innovation at a time when we really need that voice with the global challenges the world faces," he said.
"It's about having a strong voice representing those (research) communities that have so much to offer to society in terms of solving societal problems."
A key role for UKRI will be to get researchers out of their silos and encourage scientists from different fields to work together. Another is to help deliver the government's industrial strategy which aims to focus efforts on areas of scientific and technological strength for the benefit of the economy.
And one of the main challenges Prof Walport will face is the impact of Brexit. British universities employ about 30,000 scientists from EU countries and in collaboration with small businesses, receive Â£850m in research grants each year from the European Union.
Prof Walport says that he takes heart from the fact that the Prime Minster has on several occasions said that she appreciates the importance of UK science.
"There is no doubt about the vitality of our future research and innovation infrastructure depends on having the most skilled people from wherever they come," he told BBC News.
"I think that that is a message that is well recognised by government. Our job is to provide the support and the leadership and the mechanisms to enable us to remain at the forefront which we will do by remaining very global in our outlook.
"We have to have the confidence that there will be a solution that recognises that research and innovation are international activities."
Prof Walport was also keen to stress that the new agency includes the Arts and Humanities Research Council whose ideas he hopes the other research councils will draw on.
The acronym "Stem" is used to describe activities in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. Prof Walport said: "The Industrial Revolution was driven by the steam engine. And I think that this industrial revolution is driven by "Steam" as well by which I mean science, technology, engineering arts and mathematics.
"And if you think what it is that makes modern technology usable is the sort of design element. So if you put all that together, then the opportunity [exists] to strengthen what's already a very strong research and innovation mechanism in the UK. That means getting the synergies and making the whole greater than the sum of the parts."
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The six shortlisted designs for a piece of art marking the Battle of Stirling Bridge have gone on display.

The project is backed by the Guardians of Scotland Trust, which seeks to promote recognition of William Wallace and his co-commander Andrew de Moray.
De Moray died later in the year of the battle of injuries he had sustained.
The 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge is one of the most significant in Scottish history but has had no prominent marker on the site until now.
Setting up a monumental artwork to honour Wallace and de Moray was a central purpose of the Guardians of Scotland Trust.
It was established in 2011 and is backed by the Andrew de Moray Project and the Society of William Wallace.
The artists shortlisted for the project are David Annand, Doug Cocker, Alan Herriot, Kenny Hunter, Malcolm Robertson and Kate Robinson.
Their designs have gone on show at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum.
Opening the exhibition, local SNP MSP Bruce Crawford said: "I do not think I can overstate the potential significance of this project to the both historic heritage and potential tourism offer that it can bring. I am hugely excited by it.
"The trust has acted as a catalyst to bring together stakeholders and building partnerships with Historic Environment Scotland, Stirling Council, Glasgow School of Art and the Stirling Smith Gallery.
"They are helping to continue telling Stirling's story."
The Battle of Stirling Bridge was part of the first war of Scottish independence.
Wallace and de Moray had been fighting a guerrilla war against English forces. Wallace largely in the south and de Moray mainly in the north of Scotland.
They came together on the north bank of the River Forth on 11 September 1297, to protect a crossing point on the river.
Lined up against them was an English force led by the Earl of Surrey and Hugh de Cressingham.
The Scots allowed part of the English force to cross the river by the bridge, then attacked while their opponents were divided by the river.
The battle was considered a decisive victory for the Scottish forces. Wallace and de Moray were appointed Guardians of Scotland in the absence of a legitimate king.


Two serving prison officers have been arrested and later bailed by police investigating inappropriate payments to public officials, Scotland Yard said.

The men - a 52-year-old and a 26-year-old - were held at their home in Kent at about 06:00 BST on Tuesday.
They were both arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office, and other charges, and later bailed until the end of June.
The total number of people arrested as part of Operation Elveden is 69.
Police said the 52-year-old was held on conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office and misconduct in a public office. He was interviewed at a south London police station.
The 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause misconduct in a public office and money laundering, was interviewed at a Kent police station.
Operation Elveden is being conducted by the Metropolitan Police, under the supervision of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
It is running alongside Operation Weeting, the Met's phone-hacking inquiry, and Operation Tuleta, an investigation into computer hacking and other privacy breaches.
Those arrested in Operation Elveden so far include journalists, police officers, NHS staff and members of the armed forces.


Bayern Munich are taking legal action against a Stuttgart newspaper after it reported that midfielder Joshua Kimmich would be leaving the club this summer.

Stuttgarter Zeitung claimed on Tuesday that Kimmich, 22, would depart Bayern because of a lack of games, despite him being under contract until 2020.
They stated that he was likely to sign for either fellow German side RB Leipzig or Manchester City.
"This is a monstrous fallacy," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
"This story lacks any foundation. Joshua Kimmich has a contract with FC Bayern until 2020 and will definitely play for the next season for FC Bayern."
In a statement on their official website, Bayern stated that the club had "immediately taken legal action against the Stuttgart newspaper".
German international Kimmich played for Leipzig for two seasons in the German second and third division before moving to Bayern in 2015 when now Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was in charge.
He has started 15 Bundesliga games this season, coming off the bench 11 times as Carlo Ancelotti's side wrapped up a fifth straight title.


Hundreds of supporters of a powerful Shia Muslim cleric remain camped outside Iraq's parliament, a day after they stormed it.

Supporters of cleric Moqtada Sadr say they are angry at delays in approving a new, non-partisan government of technocrats.
They broke into the secure Green Zone, home to embassies and government buildings, after weeks of protests.
A state of emergency has been declared.
Iraq's system of sharing government jobs has long been criticised for promoting unqualified candidates and encouraging corruption.
The government is carefully balanced between party and religious loyalties, but the country ranks 161st of 168 on Transparency International's corruption perceptions index.
"Either corrupt (officials) and quotas remain or the entire government will be brought down and no one will be exempted," Mr Sadr said in a televised address shortly before parliament was stormed.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called on demonstrators to leave the 10 sq km (four sq mile) Green Zone and return to designated protest areas.
A state of emergency was declared, leading to entrances to the city being temporarily shut, but no curfew.
After Saturday's dramatic breaching of the walls of the Green Zone and mass entry into parliament, Moqtada Sadr's followers are now settling in for a new phase of their campaign against the political elite.
They have brought their anger and their demands right into the politicians' backyard. Foreign embassies are watching anxiously, too. The security forces fired tear gas to try to stop the influx but there has been no real confrontation so far.
Moqtada Sadr is presenting himself as the voice of the people demanding an end to corruption.
That should make him an ally of the prime minister but his methods seem more like another challenge to Haider al-Abadi's authority.
As darkness fell on Saturday, the protesters could be seen sitting on lawns or in tents near parliament which they had occupied earlier.
Members of the Sadrist militia group Saraya al-Salam were keeping order in the area, news agencies said.
The demonstrators took over parliament after breaking through the blast barriers which surround the Green Zone, toppling sections of the wall.
The push began after MPs failed again to convene in sufficient numbers for a vote on the new cabinet.
Stones were thrown at cars thought to be carrying MPs away from the scene.
Once inside the chamber, jubilant demonstrators took up the seats of the deputies and posed for photos.
Mr Sadr wants Prime Minister Abadi to commit to a plan to replace ministers with non-partisan technocrats.
Powerful parties in parliament have refused to approve the change for several weeks.
Earlier this week, hundreds of thousands of people marched towards the Green Zone to protest against the political deadlock.
Mr Abadi, who came to power in 2014, has promised to stamp out corruption and ease tensions with the Sunni Muslim minority.
A survey by the Pew Research Centre in 2011 suggested that 51% of Iraqi Muslims identified themselves as Shia, compared with 42% Sunni.
Read more: Sunni and Shia, Islam's ancient schism
The Shia cleric and his militia group, the Mehdi Army, gained prominence after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003,  galvanising anti-US sentiment. Mr Sadr's followers clashed repeatedly with US forces, whose withdrawal the cleric consistently demanded.
An arrest warrant was issued for Mr Sadr in 2004 in connection with the murder of a rival cleric.
His militia was also blamed for the torture and killing of thousands of Sunnis in the sectarian carnage of 2006 and 2007. Mr Sadr fled to Iran during that period.
In 2011, Mr Sadr returned from his self-imposed exile, taking a more conciliatory tone and calling for Iraqi unity and peace.


Do you remember Barbara Castle and her shopping trip to Brussels?

The Labour cabinet minister was a star of the "out" campaign in the referendum in 1975.
Although long-departed to the great debating chamber in the sky, she may be inspiring this referendum - but the other side rather than her own.
What wins elections?
Mrs Castle believed that if voters were shown they would be worse off, if Britain stayed in the then European Economic Community (EEC), they would vote to leave.
Of course, the mere fact we are due to have another referendum 40 years later suggests Mrs Castle's strategy didn't work.
There is a photograph of Mrs Castle, her great niece and the wife of a Conservative MP, posing at a news conference with the things they had bought, with prices displayed to demonstrate they were cheaper in Britain than on the continent.
I understand that the public relations team offering advice to the campaign to stay in the EU this time has devised a campaign largely based on economics.
Doubtless comparative shopping will figure at some point, too.
The potential risks of this approach were brought home to me when I chaired a debate about Brexit a few days ago in front of 400 lawyers.
Six panellists representing the two sides lectured, argued and debated in the Victorian splendour of Lincoln's Inn, London, one of the places the legal establishment of England and Wales calls home.
Trade and economics were raised.
And the "In" side were frustrated by the insistence of those who want to leave that it wasn't their job to say what relationship the UK should negotiate with the EU once outside of it.
But what the "Out" side appeared to have was a more clearly communicated argument about identity, and a sense of belonging or not belonging.
Chatting to people in the audience afterwards (random encounters with a self-selecting group, of course) it was clear that such messages made more of an impact than the blizzard of statistics.
You may think both sides have plenty of time to polish their message, but I suspect not.
Both sides think the EU Summit, which concludes on Friday, will finalise the changes David Cameron is negotiating - even if there are a few fireworks and some stage smoke on the way.
The referendum legislation requires a 10-week campaign period. However, David Cameron promised a six-week period prior to that for discussion and finalising matters.
A senior source in Vote Leave, with connections to Downing Street, told me that David Cameron always intended to hold the referendum on 23 June, and their plans are based on him doing so.
That may be 18 weeks away, but in truth the campaign begins the moment that Donald Tusk, the President of the Council and in effect EU lead negotiator, emerges with Mr Cameron to declare the deal has been done.
At that point, wherever they are, British cabinet ministers will be besieged by journalists and will no longer be able to avoid the question: is the deal enough or not enough to stay in the EU?
As one politician put it to me gleefully, it will be "the moment when I can denounce the Prime Minister".
Even if the "In" campaign find economics no more useful for them than it was for Barbara Castle and the "Out" side 40 years ago, it still has weapons it thinks could make a difference.
One is Sir John Major.
I am told he is saving his intervention for a moment when he judges it will have maximum impact.
Few in Westminster would be surprised if this instinctively loyal man does anything other than urge voters to support the Prime Minister by voting to remain in the EU.
There is one other, far more contentious issue: the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland.
It is the only part of the UK which has a land border with another EU country.
Anglo-Irish co-operation at governmental level has played a significant part in sustaining the Northern Ireland agreement to end sectarian violence.
Some on the "In" side think the UK's departure from the EU could have a de-stabilising effect, especially if the Unionist parties accepted Brexit and the nationalists and republicans did not.
The "Out" campaigners think this is part of what they call "project fear", exaggerating the risks of quitting the EU.
And some think it downright offensive to imply that Northern Ireland could be less peaceful outside the EU.
But before the campaign begins, a word of caution for both sides.
When, at the end of the debate at Lincoln's Inn, I asked if anyone in the audience had changed their mind as a result of the preceding 90 minutes, just one of the 400-strong audience raised his hand.
Both sides have a lot more work to do if opinion is to shift decisively in their favour.
Guide: All you need to know about the referendum
EU renegotiation: Did Cameron get what he wanted?
Referendum timeline: What will happen when?
The view from Europe: What's in it for the others?
More: BBC News EU referendum special


Liam Gallagher has told a court he would like Oasis to reform - but there is currently no chance of it happening.

Gallagher has given evidence in a legal dispute with ex-wife Nicole Appleton over how their assets should be split.
In his ruling, Judge Martin O'Dwyer revealed that the frontman "would like to re-enter the music business", but says there is "no prospect" of that.
Much of the hearing was private, but it was revealed that the pair had spent £800,000 on legal fees.
Judge O'Dwyer said he was concerned at how much the pair, who separated in 2013 after five years of marriage, had spent on their battle at the Central Family Court in London.
"The level of costs in this case, totalling over £800,000, are manifestly excessive for the determination of the dispute, which involves capital sums not much greater at the end of the day than £10m."
After hearing evidence from the pair several months ago, Judge O'Dwyer decided their money and property should be divided equally, with each receiving £5.4m.
The judge had originally banned all reporting of the case, but has now allowed much of his ruling to be released.
Referring to Oasis, the judge wrote: "It was formed in 1991 and discontinued in 2009, it is said after an argument between [Gallagher] and his brother.
"[Gallagher] says there are no plans to reform and, although he would like to do so, he does not anticipate there is a possibility currently of any such reform.
"Subsequent to Oasis, [Gallagher] formed another group called Beady Eye but they disbanded in 2014."
The judge added: "Although he expressly would like to re-enter the music business, currently he says there is no prospect of that."
After Oasis split, Liam Gallagher's brother and former bandmate Noel formed his band High Flying Birds, who are going on tour next year.


The carcass of a whale which washed up on the Suffolk coast has been removed.

The minke whale was spotted near Orford on Saturday, but the inaccessibility of the River Ore's mud flats meant experts could not carry out post-mortem tests on it.
The whale was towed to a quay at about 12:00 BST and taken away by lorry by an authorised contractor, New Orford Town Trust said.
It was one of three dead whales, but experts said they were not linked.
More on this and other news from Suffolk
The minke, which was "less than 20ft in length", weighed about one-and-a-half tonnes, Kara Reed, clerk of the Trust, said.
"In 13 years of working for the trust I have never had to deal with a whale," Ms Reed said.
"It was very sad."
The whale had been tethered on the mud flats since Monday to stop it from floating away and was towed about one mile by boat at high tide, she said.
It was taken to Orford quay and then removed by lorry for "disposal".
The minke was the first of three dead whales to be seen along that part of the Suffolk coast.
On Wednesday the body of a 30ft (9m) female fin whale which washed up on the beach at Felixstowe on Sunday was removed.
The third whale, believed to be a sperm whale, which was spotted off the coast on Monday is thought to have floated back out to sea.
Scientists from the Cetaceans Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) said the three deaths were "coincidental" and not thought to be in any way linked.


Two people have been charged in connection with a plot to carry out a mass shooting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canadian police say.

Police said Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath, 23, and Randall Steven Shepherd, 20, are due to appear in court on Tuesday.
A third person has been released without charge.
Media reports say a 19-year-old man found dead had written a blog with dark references to death and shootings.
The man, identified as James Gamble, posted a picture of himself holding a rifle and a knife.
"Valentine's Day it's going down," he is quoted as writing by CBC News.
"What doesn't kill me might make me kill you," he also reportedly writes.
Police say they unearthed the plot following a tip-off from Crime Stoppers on Friday - just a day before the plan for a shooting spree in the Halifax Shopping Centre had allegedly been due to take place.
Justice Minister Peter MacKay said if it had gone ahead it would have "been devastating, mass casualties would have been a real possibility".
But all suspects are now either dead or in custody, he said.
Ms Souvannarath and Mr Shepherd were arrested at Halifax airport after Ms Souvannarath arrived on a flight from her home state of Illinois, the US, police said.
The pair have now been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Police found the man named as James Gamble dead at a house in Timberlea outside Halifax after they arrived and surrounded it. They have refused to confirm reports that he shot himself.
They found three long-barrelled rifles at the address, said Nova Scotia RCMP commanding officer Brian Brennan.
Another man has been questioned and released without charge.
Among the dark references in Mr Gamble's alleged blog uncovered by CBC are references to the 1999 Columbine high school massacre in Colorado, the US, and to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, the news organisation reported.
Police say the attack was not related to "ethnic or political considerations" and was not terrorist in nature, but have not speculated on the motivation for the alleged plot.


The Scottish government is to move 49 amendments to the Land Reform Bill amid calls for it to be made more "radical".

The legislation as it stands is concerned with management of land and ending tax relief for shooting estates.
MSPs had said the bill needed "more work", while SNP conference delegates backed making it more "robust".
Land Reform Minister Aileen McLeod said the changes would make the bill "the most radical and ambitious land reform legislation possible".
The latest changes come in addition to an earlier announcement of a provision to create a register of people in control of land in Scotland.
The bill also includes:
Changes include:
The rural affairs, environment and climate change committee will consider amendments on the first five parts of the bill this week.
Ms McLeod said the government was "strengthening an already radical" bill.
She said: "This strengthened bill will change the relationship between the people of Scotland and the land that we live, work and depend on.
"As I have said before, I am open to ideas and suggestions relating to Scotland's land reform journey and will continue to listen to all the evidence and will consider any further suggestions."


The "seven wonders" of the Cotswolds have been revealed after a public vote.

Stroud Farmers' Market, The Rollright Stones, Westonbirt Arboretum and Cotswold limestone made the final list.
The "Seven Wonders of the Cotswolds" was compiled to celebrate 45 years of the region being designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Cleeve Hill and Common, the Cotswold Way National Trail and Woodchester Mansion and Park also made the final seven, voted by more than 500 people.
A spokeswoman for the Cotswold Conservation Board, which led the search, said it had been a "fascinating campaign".
"The final list is a very interesting one which represents some of the Cotswolds' most distinctive features which we plan to use to create some new 'wonder walks' to help more people access and enjoy our beautiful Cotswolds landscape," she added.
Some 80 nominations were received from members of the public after the board began its search in December last year.
Ideas included historic sites, viewpoints, cultural features and towns and villages.
The Cotswolds is the second largest protected landscape in England after the Lake District National Park.
It covers 790 sq miles (2,038 sq km), stretching from Warwickshire and Worcestershire in the north, through Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, down to Bath and Wiltshire in the south.


Police have said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the murder of a man at a flat above a pub in north London.

A man was found dead and a woman critically injured on Wednesday at an address on Northumberland Park Road in Tottenham.
The man, in his mid-30s, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The woman, also in her 30s, remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition.
The Met opened a murder inquiry on Wednesday. On Thursday, the force said they were not looking for other suspects in connection with the incident.
The pair are yet to be identified.
A regular at the pub, close to Tottenham's White Hart Lane ground, said it only opens on match days.
Another man, who did not want to be named, said: "We are all really shocked. It is a community pub."


A police community support officer (PCSO) who admitted bestiality and raping a girl under 13 has been jailed for 11 years and four months.

Derren Tomlinson, 44, pleaded guilty to the charges, and an additional count of sexual assault, at Shrewsbury Crown Court last month.
He was suspended from West Mercia Police in November 2014 and dismissed at a disciplinary hearing this month.
Judge Robin Onions described Tomlinson as a "significant risk".
More on this and other stories in Shropshire
The court heard how Tomlinson, of Riverdale Road in Shrewsbury, filmed himself having sex with a dog.
Still images and video footage of abuse was found on his mobile phone.
As well as a custodial sentence he was handed an extended licence period of four years and eight months, placed on the sex offenders register for life and banned from working with children.
Steve Cullen, temporary assistant chief constable at West Mercia Police, said: "He has violated the trust that both the public and his colleagues placed in him in the most heinous of ways."


As expected, in the wake of the economic crisis and high-profile corruption scandals which have tarnished the reputation of the traditional political parties in Spain, the country has now entered a new political era.

Anti-austerity parties, linked to the Podemos movement on the far left, which is barely one year old, have the prestige of holding power in Barcelona, and could form a coalition to rule in the Spanish capital.
Across the country the ruling Popular Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been punished.
The PP will hold onto the fact that they still have the highest share of the vote of any single party.
But they have lost absolute majorities in regional parliaments across the country, including in traditional heartlands like Valencia, where the party has been badly damaged by corruption.
Barcelona in itself is an incredible story. The new mayor will be Ada Colau, a woman who made her name by campaigning for people who could not pay their mortgages, and who faced eviction after Spain's construction bubble burst.
What is also eye-catching is that significant support nationwide has shifted from the PP to parties on the left, even though the PP has taken Spain's economy from the height of the financial crisis in 2012 through to a period of impressive growth.
Spain's economy is expected to grow faster this year than any other economy in the eurozone.
That could be because the social impact of the recovery is still not being felt by enough of the people who suffered the impact of the economic crisis, and the affects of the PP's policies of austerity.
Unemployment is still a massive 24%.
But you also have to take into account the deep level of dissatisfaction in Spain across the political spectrum with the traditional parties, and in particular the PP, who many now, rightly or wrongly, associate with corruption and the political cronyism of the past.


Dog skin boots and perfume containing urine were among a range of fake goods seized by Police Scotland.

The force has urged bargain hunters to refuse to buy illicit food, alcohol, fashion, medicines and beauty goods, which could contain hidden dangers.
Make-up laced with paint stripper was another product highlighted at a summit being held in Edinburgh on counterfeit goods and criminal gangs.
The event includes speakers from Interpol and US Homeland Security.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "Buying counterfeit goods might be seen as a victimless way to get presents for family and friends on the cheap, but many of these items will have a long back story of criminality, often involving violence.
"However, the problem doesn't just lie with fake bags, perfume or alcohol.
"There is a serious global problem in counterfeit medicines, machinery and engine parts which can be seriously damaging to people's health and potentially deadly."
Mandy Haeburn-Little, director of summit organiser the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, said: "Everyone loves a bargain. But people need to stop to think about the true cost of fake goods. Can you be confident that those cheap cigarettes, perfumes and alcohol are actually safe?
"However, it goes much deeper as those products are likely to have supported child labour or human trafficking or used to fund serious organised crime.
"Illicit trade also hurts businesses in Scotland very hard. People choosing bargains at markets, car boot sales or on the internet impacts hugely on retailers and manufacturers - less genuine goods being sold closes businesses and puts people out of work."


Wales must avoid playing a loose 'sevens-style' game against Tonga, says assistant coach Gareth Williams.

Wales face the Sea Eagles at Auckland's Eden Park on 16 June before travelling to Apia to face Samoa a week later on Friday, 23 June.
National sevens coach Williams is part of caretaker Robin McBryde's staff for the tour.
"We have to be very effective in what we do and not give them any loose ball," he told BBC Wales Sport.
"The exceptional individuals they have in that team are brilliant in that style of play."
Williams is expecting the Pacific Islanders not only to play an expansive, skilful game, but also to take a direct, physical approach.
"They are very tough matches. With Tonga and Samoa, it doesn't get much more physical, and the quality they have individually is there to be seen," he said.
"These are two of the most physical games so it's great for our squad to see where they stand on the international scene."
With 12 senior players away on British and Irish Lions duty, the 32-man Wales squad contains 14 uncapped players.
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Tonga have been forced to play the game against Wales in New Zealand because their Teufaiva Sport Stadium home in Nuku'alofa is being redeveloped.
But Williams expects the Sea Eagles to receive enthusiastic support from Auckland's large Tongan population.
"It's going to be quite a hostile environment and atmosphere, and that's fantastic," he added.
"That's what international rugby is about and it's exactly where we want to see these young players and see how they react and perform."
Williams replaced Danny Wilson as a tour coach after the Cardiff Blues boss withdrew from the role in March.


An exhibition looking at the history of Britain's circuses has opened in Sheffield.

The collection of posters, programmes and photos, gathered over 80 years, documents the early travelling zoos to modern-day acrobatic shows.
It follows the donation of the Circus Friends Association (CFA) archive to the University of Sheffield.
The exhibition, called Spectacle & Wonder, runs at the university's Western Bank Library until 2 April.
The CFA, previously known as the Circus Fans' Association, was established in 1934 to promote the circus as part of British culture.
The university said the collection was "one of the most import circus archives in the United Kingdom".
It features items from some of Britain's most popular circus companies including Bertram Mills', Billy Smart's, Robert Brothers, Chipperfield's, Fossett's and Blackpool Tower.
Since the 19th century, animals were taken on tour as part of travelling menagerie's before they were later combined with traditional circus shows.
Angela Haighton, from the University of Sheffield Library, said: "As a popular form of entertainment the circus is an significant part of our social history.
"The donation of this important collection means we can make it more widely accessible and preserve it for future generations."


The Eurogroup has described new Greek proposals on securing a vital third bailout as "thorough".

President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said a "major decision" could now be made at a eurozone finance meeting on Saturday.
The proposals are aimed at staving off financial collapse and preventing a possible Greek exit from the eurozone.
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras will put the plan, which contains many elements rejected in a referendum last Sunday, to a vote in parliament on Friday.
The prime minister submitted the proposals to Greece's creditors - the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - by the Thursday deadline they had set.
Follow the latest updates here
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde and Mr Dijsselbloem were scheduled to hold a conference call on the new proposals at 11:00 GMT.
Mr Dijsselbloem said the new Greek paper was "a thorough piece of text" and that support from the Greek parliament would give it "more credibility".
"But even then we need to consider carefully whether the proposal is good and if the numbers add up. We have to make a major decision. Whichever way."
Analysis: Robert Peston, BBC economics editor
Only a few days ago Mr Tsipras won an overwhelming mandate from the Greek people, in a referendum, to reject more-or-less these bailout terms.
And today, on the back of that popular vote, he is signing up to the supposedly hated bailout. This is big politics that would make Lewis Carroll proud.
But here's the point. If a way isn't found to allow the banks to reopen within days - and the ECB simply maintaining Emergency Liquidity Assistance won't come anywhere near to achieving that - the Greek economy will implode so that any bailout deal agreed this weekend will become irrelevant in weeks.
Read more from Robert
Crisis triggers memories of World War Two
Angela Merkel under pressure over Greek bailout deal
All Greek to you? Debt jargon explained
Eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels on Saturday. A meeting of Eurogroup leaders is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, followed by a full EU summit two hours later.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he was optimistic and hoped a deal could be struck on Saturday so that the Sunday meetings would not be needed.
French President Francois Hollande said the new proposals were "serious and credible" and that the "Greeks have just shown their determination to remain in the eurozone".
€320bn
Greece's debt mountain
€240bn
European bailout
177% country's debt-to-GDP ratio
25% fall in GDP since 2010
26% Greek unemployment rate
However Germany, which has been far less upbeat on a deal, would not comment in detail on the new plan.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said it was withholding judgment and waiting for the creditor institutions to give their opinion.
Finance ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said Germany would not accept any reduction of debt that caused it more losses.
"The outcome of the Eurogroup meeting on Saturday is completely open," he said.
In Athens, Mr Tsipras convened a meeting of his Syriza party ahead of the Greek parliamentary debate.
A government official quoted him as telling the party's lawmakers that the referendum had given him a mandate to seek a better deal but not to leave the eurozone.
"We are all in this together," he was quoted as saying.
Syriza parliamentary spokesman Nikos Filis said he was confident MPs would give the government the mandate to negotiate the new bailout package.
The coalition government has 162 seats in the 300-strong parliament, and also has the backing of many opposition MPs.
However, the BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens says that no matter how it is packaged and whatever the positive spin, Mr Tsipras has made a major climb-down, with the measures he has agreed similar to what the creditors were demanding.
Further rallies for and against a new bailout are planned in Athens on Friday.
The measures submitted in the new Greek document include:
Greece's creditors have already provided more than €200bn in two bailouts since a rescue plan began five years ago.
The second bailout expired on 30 June.
Greece's banks are still closed and the €60 (£43; $66) daily limit on cash machine withdrawals for Greeks, imposed on 28 June, remains in force. With a shortage of €20 notes, for many the withdrawal is in effect €50.
Tsipras, Greece's high-stakes gambler
Why Greece sees France as last hope
How easy is it to swap currencies?
Full coverage of Greek debt crisis
European Stability Mechanism explained


Activity in the UK's manufacturing sector hit a two-and-a-half-year high last month, according to a survey.

The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector rose to 56.1 in December from 53.6 the month before. A figure above 50 indicates expansion.
The weaker pound helped to boost orders from overseas, the survey found, with the sector starting the year on a "strong footing".
However, it also said that cost pressures faced by firms remained high.
"The UK manufacturing sector starts 2017 on a strong footing," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at IHS Markit.
"Based on its historical relationship against official manufacturing output data, the survey is signalling a quarterly pace of growth approaching 1.5%, a surprisingly robust pace given the lacklustre start to the year and the uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum.
"The boost to competitiveness from the weak exchange rate has undoubtedly been a key driver of the recent turnaround, while the domestic market has remained a strong contributor to new business wins."
December's headline PMI reading was a 30-month high, and the Markit/CIPS survey said rates of growth for production and new orders last month were among the best seen over the past two-and-a-half years.
It said companies saw "stronger inflows of new work from both domestic and overseas clients, the latter aided by the boost to competitiveness from the weak sterling exchange rate".
Sterling fell sharply against other currencies last year following the UK's vote in June to leave the EU, which has made UK goods cheaper for buyers from overseas.
However, the weakness of the pound has pushed up the price of imported goods, which has led to higher costs for many manufacturers.
The survey said price pressures remained "elevated" in December, with inflation for input costs and output charges remaining "among the fastest seen during the survey history".
It added that companies passed on the higher costs, with selling prices rising for the eighth month in a row.
Many analysts expect these rising costs to lead to higher prices for consumers this year, pushing up the rate of inflation.


An attempt to smuggle ancient artefacts, possibly worth millions of dollars, out of the Pakistani port city of Karachi has been foiled, police say.

A top archaeologist has said the goods are at least 2,000 years old and were illegally excavated. Police have called in experts to help assess their value.
Two men caught trying to ship the items have been arrested, police say.
Karachi is often used by smugglers who can get criminal support to take valuable antiquities out of country.
Customs officers in 2005 foiled a similar attempt to smuggle nearly 1,500 artefacts worth more than $10m (Â£6.4m) out of Pakistan.
Some of the antiquities found in a container marked "furniture" at that time were 7,000 years old, archaeologists said.
Police Deputy Superintendent Majeed Abbas told the BBC that police conducted the raid in the eastern part of Karachi in the early hours of Friday morning.
The artefacts are thought to have come from the kingdom of Gandhara, which spanned northern Pakistan and parts of eastern Afghanistan.
"These artefacts were loaded in a container... and were so heavy," Mr Abbas said.
"We had to call specific machines and a forklift truck to download them carefully."
Mr Abbas said that the two men arrested told police that the artefacts were brought to Karachi six months ago for a sales deal.
The deal was cancelled and the men told the police they then tried to take the antiquities to Rawalpindi.
"But the papers we've recovered from the vehicle show a different destination. [They suggest that] the vehicle was on its way to Sialkot City of Punjab province, probably for another deal," Mr Abbas said.
"We have a hunch that they were about to deliver it to some buyers on their way," he said.
Meanwhile leading archaeologist Qasim Ali Qasim told Geo TV that the relics were mostly Gandharan art, found in an area near Peshawar.
He said that most of the items depict the early life of Buddha, which added to their value.


Britain's IBF super-middleweight champion James DeGale admits money is motivation enough for his unification fight with WBC champion Badou Jack.

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DeGale, 30, meets Sweden's Jack, 34, at New York's Barclays Centre on Saturday.
"I've worked hard all my life," he said. "Now I've got myself in a position where I can financially secure me and my family.
"It's time to strike while the iron's hot, get in the big fights, earn my money and run."
The fight will begin at around 04:00 GMT on Sunday morning.
The 2008 Olympic gold medallist told BBC Radio 5 live: "It's not just about the money but I'm a prizefighter.
"I've got all the accolades now, the only thing that's missing is the millions in the bank."
His opponent Jack, who has 20 wins, two draws and one defeat on his record, has million-dollar backing behind him as he is managed by Floyd Mayweather.
DeGale has prepared for the fight with a strength and conditioning coach - the first time he has used one.
"It's because I was getting fatigued in fights," he explained.
He also said he had dreamt of fighting in New York since he was a child, watching his hero, Britain's former world featherweight champion Naseem Hamed against Kevin Kelley.
"At the age of 10, I was thinking, 'yes, that's going to be me'," he said. "I'm living the dream."
You can listen to the fight on BBC Radio 5 live from 03:30 GMT on Sunday.


"Dying is a very dull, dreary affair," writer W Somerset Maugham once said, before advising people to "have nothing whatever to do with it".

But he never met the Welsh funeral directors doing their best to make people laugh, smile and feel comfortable at the send off of their loved ones.
They have helped mourners with comedy music and scattered ashes using fireworks.
BBC Wales spoke to some of those gently ushering tradition into the 21st Century, while maintaining the sanctity of a time-honoured profession.
Gemma O'Driscoll, of GE O'Driscoll and Daughters, in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, has helped to arrange a funeral for a comedy-lover who had insisted no-one wear black and the Benny Hill TV programme theme be played.
"If the family want me to wear a onesie, I wear a onesie - if the family want me head-to-toe in pink, I'll wear pink," she said.
"To see a room full of people smiling and laughing during the funeral service is really something quite different," she said.
"There's definitely a change toward more of this kind of thing and I think we'll see much greater change going forward."
There are 500 funerals in Wales every week.
And third generation funeral director Gareth Jenkins, of the Baglan Funeral Home, in Neath Port Talbot, has overseen thousands of ceremonies, averaging up to 10 a week.
"When I first started it was very traditional - church, maybe, or chapel, whereas now it's more a celebration of life," he said.
Unconventional ceremonies in Wales have seen an organic wool cocoon used instead of a coffin, motorbikes and HGVs replacing hearses and ashes compressed into diamonds and crystals.
"It's so important that the last memory they [mourners] have of somebody is a pleasant one and any little thing that we can do to make that special, we have to do," Mr Jenkins added.
His wife, Christine, has become an expert at making the dead look their best, curling their hair, colouring their lips and ensuring they are dressed in their own clothes and glasses, if requested.
A magician's wand was ceremonially broken and placed in the coffin at one funeral service in Newport.
Ashes were also shot into the air using a firework display in Swansea while another service took place where no-one attended - as the deceased wished.
The unlikely episodes are all featured in BBC One Wales' A Very Welsh Undertaking, a four-part programme exploring the work of those for whom death is a way of life.
James Tovey, of Tovey Brothers, in Newport, arranged a farmer's funeral with his coffin taken past his land on a tractor trailer, led by a cortege of vintage agricultural vehicles.
"I hope he'd be very pleased if he were looking down on us," he said.
Former champion power-lifter Helen Williams, who lives in the borders of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, now organises non-religious ceremonies as a funeral celebrant.
Ms Williams, who once squatted a then-record 200kg (31.5 stone), said: "The power-lifting has prepared me for this in a strange way. You're carrying the weight of responsibility."
She said reflecting on the person who has died is "core" to non religious funerals, which are becoming more popular.
"Every part of the ceremony is related to that person," she added.
Latin phrase, media vita in morte sumus - in the midst of life, we are in death - is often used to evoke the fleeting nature of human mortality.
But the opposite is also true, with death sometimes acting as a catalyst in life for those in the trade.
It certainly provided a fateful introduction for Ceredigion funeral director, Maldwyn Lewis, when he met his now-wife, the Reverend Carys Ann.
She said: "I saw him across a grave and we said 'right, let's meet up', and that was it. And we've hit it off great."
A Very Welsh Undertaking begins on Tuesday at 22:35 BST


Dover Athletic moved up to fourth in the National League as Stefan Payne and Ricky Miller both scored twice to end Lincoln's six-game unbeaten run.

Payne curled in an early opener past Paul Farman and the hosts seized control in a frantic second half.
Sam Magri's pass teed up Ricky Miller to make it 2-0 and Payne added his second after good work by Tom Murphy.
Jack Muldoon gave the Imps hope after a goalmouth scramble, but Miller wrapped up victory from close range.


A man from Flintshire who was involved in a car crash in Greece in 2003 is facing extradition to serve a prison sentence there.

Paul Wright, from Mold, was released after being interviewed by Greek police.
But he was arrested in March this year after being convicted in his absence by a Greek court of joyriding and criminal damage.
Mr Wright faces a Â£3,500 fine or a 15 month prison sentence.
The Foreign Office said it was unable to comment on Mr Wright's case.
He was on holiday with friends in Malia, Crete when he got into a car belonging to a Greek barman.
He claims his friend crashed it, ran off and left him to explain the damage.
"I jumped in the car with him and he goes tearing down the street, crashes into a scooter and runs away," said Mr Wright.
The next day he said the car's owner took around 700 euros from his hotel room and threatened to come back for more.
He returned home, but was arrested by North Wales Police earlier this year, who told him he was the subject of a European arrest warrant.
"I was shocked," he said.
"These people should be following some sort of procedure to actually summons you, and tell you what's going on.
"I didn't even get a chance to defend myself."
Mr Wright is unable to work due to a spinal condition and cannot afford to pay the fine.
His solicitor is fighting the extradition and his case is being supported by MP David Hanson, who said it is unfair for a person to be convicted in their absence with no opportunity to defend themselves.
"There are some serious questions which need to be answered," said Mr Hanson.
Mr Wright is also appealing to the UK Government to change the way it reviews European arrest warrants.
He said countries like Greece are using the threat of prison to force foreigners convicted in their absence to pay large fines.
Mr Wright is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on 1 November.