Yasuo Fukuda, a 71-year-old politician almost forgotten by the public, is staging a comeback after emerging as the most powerful contender in the race to take over the Liberal Democratic Party presidency and therefore the prime ministership.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='175' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070916a2a.jpg' WIDTH='175' HEIGHT='267'/></TD> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070916a2b.jpg' WIDTH='175' HEIGHT='267'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN='2'><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Yasuo Fukuda –

and Taro Aso raise their fists Saturday before officially registering for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on Sept. 23. KYODO PHOTOS

The former chief Cabinet secretary now has the support of the executives in most of the LDP's nine factions, including the largest one, which is led by Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura.