Iraq's parliament should confirm a new government in office today, ending months of inertia that have seen sectarian bloodshed mount and launching a crucial new phase in the US-backed project to install democracy.
Aides to Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and senior negotiators said a basic deal was struck in talks late on Friday that left the key posts of interior and defence minister vacant.
There may be some fine-tuning at the last minute but, with jobs for nearly all parliamentary groups barring small Shia and Sunni parties that refused to join, parliamentary approval for Maliki's ministers is likely to be a formality.
The government can be sure of an enthusiastic welcome in Washington, where frustration with Iraqis' sectarian and ethnic haggling has grown over the five months since an election hailed as a final step from Saddam Hussein's dictatorship to democracy.
"For the first time, Sunnis, Kurds and Shias participate with a four-year mandate," a senior US official said in Washington. "This is an opportunity to make some changes."
For President George W. Bush, who launched the invasion in 2003 in the name of Iraqi freedom and ending a perceived threat from Saddam, stability is key to bringing home 130,000 American troops - a move that might stem his falling approval ratings.
Iraqis too, who turned out in large numbers across all the rival communities, have been growing impatient for a leadership that can address their massive problems - security certainly, but also a devastated economy and poor basic public services