After nine months, Belgians seal new government deal

Five Belgian parties on Tuesday sealed a deal for a coalition government under Christian Democrat Yves Leterme, ending a political limbo that threatened to split the linguistically divided country.

Leterme, who assumes power today, described the result of overnight talks as "a good deal for a government, with balanced measures."

However no one was claiming that the five-party coalition could heal the deep differences between the country's Dutch-speaking and francophone communities.

The hard-fought agreement on a political program for the coalition followed lengthy negotiations between two Dutch-speaking and three French-speaking parties. As a result, a permanent government will be set up today for the first time since a general election way last June.

As well as straddling the linguistic divide, the new government will also cover a broad political spectrum, including socialists, Christian Democrats and liberals.

Since last year's elections, Belgium has been engulfed in a political crisis with the richer Flemish majority in the north seeking more regional powers, a move opposed by leaders in the poorer French-speaking southern region of Wallonia.

Leterme, a bilingual 47-year-old whose Flemish Christian Democrats came out on top in last year's general election, is due to present his ministers at the royal palace this morning.

He will take up the reins from outgoing Flemish liberal Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt who had agreed to stay on as interim leader until now.

The "balanced" deal was endorsed by the three francophone leaders -- Socialist party chief Elio Di Rupo, liberal Finance Minister Didier Reynders and centrist leader Joelle Milquet.