Afghanistan’s rival presidential candidates have signed a power-sharing deal that establishes a unity government.

Ashraf Ghani – a former finance minister and World Bank official – will be named president.

Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah embraced after signing the agreement at the presidential palace in Kabul.

The deal brings an end to a drawn-out row that destabilised Afghanistan at a crucial time, as foreign troops prepared to withdraw.

Ghani and Abdullah both accused the other of electoral fraud after the presidential run-off vote in June.

The agreement on establishing the unity government comes after all eight million ballots cast in the run-off vote were recounted in a UN-monitored audit.