Kabul, Sep 21 (IANS): Afghan presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai Sunday signed an agreement on the formation of a national unity government to end the election deadlock.

The agreement was signed after days of extensive talks over the past month between the two candidates mediated by former Mujahideen leaders and ranking officials in the presence of the outgoing president Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace, Xinhua reported.

Welcoming the agreement, Karzai in his short speech wished success for the next government.

Under the agreement, one of the candidates is to become the president and the other or one of his aides is to become the chief executive, a post equal to that of prime minister in the national unity government, which is to assume office in a few days.

Afghanistan's third presidential election since the fall of Taliban regime was held April 5 but since none of the eight candidates secured the requisite over 50 percent of the votes, a run-off was conducted between front-runners Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani June 14.

The signing of the agreement has paved the way for Afghanistan's Election Commission to announce the election results possibly later Sunday or Monday.