Somali faction leaders set to announce "historic" deal

The Egyptian government says most of the factions in Somalia are due to sign what it calls a historic power-sharing agreement in Cairo later today, after more than seven weeks of talks.

The country has been without a central government since President Mohammad Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

Competing warlords have ruled different areas, and the country has been riven by civil war and natural disasters.

Under the agreement, key government posts will be given to specified clans, and there will be a conference of national reconciliation in Somalia next month.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service