Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister who will be named president under the deal reached on Saturday night, embraced rival Abdullah Abdullah after they signed the agreement in a ceremony broadcast live on television.

The new administration faces huge challenges in fighting an emboldened Taliban-led insurgency and paying its bills amid plummeting tax revenue.

It will also face significant difficulty in improving the lives of ordinary Afghans who face hard times as aid flows fall and as contracts with the NATO-led coalition dry up as most foreign troops leave by the end of the year.

The power-sharing deal was signed even though the final results of a hotly contested June 14 run-off vote have yet to be released. The signing ceremony took place at the presidential palace still occupied by outgoing leader Hamid Karzai.

Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi said Ghani is expected to be sworn in as president within a week. He said one of Ghani's first acts would be to sign a long-delayed bilateral security agreement with the United States to allow a small force of foreign troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014.

The deal, brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, was swiftly welcomed by Washington.

"This agreement marks an important opportunity for unity and increased stability in Afghanistan," said a statement issued by the office of the White House Press Secretary.