The agreement among Iraqi groups is an "important and constructive step towards implementing security, stability and serving people in that country," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

The power-sharing pact returns Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, to power, leaves Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, as president and has a Sunni Arab, Osama al-Nujaifi, from ex-premier Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc as parliament speaker.

Allawi himself is to head a national council on strategic policies, a position that would allow for checks on the government's direction.

The deal came after an eight-month-long vacuum of power accompanied by worrisome outbreaks of violence as Iraq's sectarian factions struggled to form a government in the wake of March 7 elections.

The pact, which has looked fragile since being signed on Wednesday, has been lauded by world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, as a step forward in a country without a new government since the March polls.

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