Azerbaijan's strongman Ilham Aliyev today called a surprise snap presidential election for 11th April this year, six months ahead of schedule, without providing an immediate explanation for the move. <br/><br/>The oil-rich country was initially set to hold a Presidential election on 17th October. 56 year old Aliyev, was first elected President in 2003, after the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era leader who had ruled Azerbaijan with an iron fist since 1993.<br/><br/>In 2009, he changed the country's constitution so that he could run for an unlimited number of presidential terms, in a move criticised by rights advocates.