Iraq’s deeply divided political factions have sealed a power-sharing deal more than eight months after an inconclusive general election, paving the way for MPs to elect a speaker yesterday.

The deal, clinched late on Wednesday night after three days of high-pressure talks between the rival factions, sees Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, set to return for a second term, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, likely to retain the Presidency and a Sunni Arab MP poised to be elected as Speaker of Parliament.

It also establishes a new statutory body to oversee security as a sop to former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who had held out for months to take the Premiership from Mr Maliki after his mainly Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc won narrowly more seats in the March election.

The hard-won agreement now paves the way for an end to a months-long power vacuum that had witnessed growing violence in the country.

Mr Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc confirmed it had finally signed up to the deal.

“I can confirm that there was an accord last night but I cannot give details,” Iraqiya spokesman Intissar Allawi said.

The support of the bloc, which won most of its support among the Sunni Arab minority that dominated Saddam Hussein’s regime and has been the bedrock of the anti-US insurgency since the 2003 invasion, was seen as vital to prevent a resurgence of violence.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that Iraqiya had agreed to accept the position of Parliament Speaker – not the Presidency or the Premiership they had long sought.

“A power-sharing agreement has been concluded and Parliament will meet... to elect Osama al-Nujaifi as Speaker,” Mr Dabbagh said, referring to a Sunni MP from Iraqiya.

The session, which will also select the country’s president, was delayed until 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) amid last-minute disputes within the National Alliance, the mainly Shiite bloc of which Maliki is leader, over the distribution of posts.

Mr Dabbagh said Mr Maliki would not be formally named Prime Minister until after the Eid al-Adha holiday, which concludes on November 20.

Kurdish politician Massud Barzani, who brokered the deal, earlier paid tribute to the 11th-hour concessions by Iraqiya that had made it possible and said he hoped its leader Mr Allawi would now agree to head the new National Council for Strategic Policy.