Kenyans celebrate historic deal
The power-sharing deal was greeted with jubilation in Kenya
Kenyans have been celebrating the power-sharing deal to end the country's two-month political crisis.
Thousands of dancing and cheering people poured onto the streets of Kisumu, the home town of opposition leader Raila Odinga.
He is set to become prime minister in a coalition with President Mwai Kibaki.
The deal to end the crisis which saw some 1,500 people killed and 600,000 left homeless has also been warmly welcomed elsewhere in the country.
Mr Odinga and Mr Kibaki signed a power-sharing agreement, brokered by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in the capital, Nairobi, on Thursday.
Negotiations between the government and opposition lasted more than a month, stalling several times.
Relief
Mr Odinga told the BBC he wanted fresh elections within two years.
He said the deal he signed with Mr Kibaki gave him genuine powers as prime minister, and there was agreement to fast-track amendments to the constitution so that he could take up office as soon as possible.
POWER-SHARING DEAL
New two-party coalition government to be set up
Cabinet posts to be divided equally between parties
Raila Odinga to take new post of prime minister, can only be dismissed by National Assembly
Two new deputy PMs to be appointed, one from each member of coalition
The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says there is a huge sense of relief that a deal to end the country's most damaging crisis since independence 48 years ago has been signed, but also some nervousness about how lingering resentment from weeks of unrest will be defused.
Mr Odinga said he was robbed of victory in December's polls.
He said he would push through reforms so the horrors of the past eight weeks could not be repeated - get rid of, he said, the ugly face of ethnicity in the country.
The post-election violence saw thousands of people targeted because they belonged to ethnic groups seen as either pro-government or pro-opposition.
Compromise
The new coalition will be headed by President Kibaki, with Mr Odinga - whose Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is the largest in parliament - set to take the newly created post of prime minister.
Compromise was necessary for the survival of this country
Kofi Annan
Each party will nominate a deputy prime minister, with other ministerial portfolios being divided equally between the two parties.
Correspondents say both parties are now likely to begin wrangling over who gets what position in the new government, with the post of finance minister likely to prove the most contentious.
After the deal was reached, Mr Annan said: "Compromise was necessary for the survival of this country."
He urged all Kenyans to support the agreement, saying: "The job of national reconciliation and national reconstruction is not for the leaders alone. It must be carried out in every neighbourhood, village, hamlet of the nation."
'New chapter'
Speaking after the signing, Mr Kibaki said: "This process has reminded us that as a nation there are more issues that unite than that divide us...
After 8 weeks of uncertainty in the political atmosphere as well as peace, there is somehow a glimpse of hope and light to the beautiful land of Kenya.Edward, Nairobi
"We've been reminded we must do all in our power to safeguard the peace that is the foundation of our national unity... Kenya has room for all of us."
Mr Odinga said: "With the signing of this agreement, we have opened a new chapter in our country's history - from the era or phase of confrontation to the beginning of co-operation.
"We, on our side, are completely committed to ensuring that this agreement will succeed."
Both men thanked those who had stood by Kenya in what Mr Odinga called its "hour of need", including Mr Annan, the African Union, the European Union, the United States and the UN.
They also urged Kenyans to move forward together without ethnic divisions.
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