Rival Afghan factions meeting in Bonn agreed on the final draft of a United Nations-authored plan to establish an interim post-Taliban government, but had yet to decide who would fill the posts, a UN spokesman said.

The Northern Alliance finally agreed on Tuesday morning to submit a full list of nominees to the interim exectuive. Afghan leaders also came close to agreeing a leader for the country's interim government, raising hopes a full UN peace pact could be signed soon.

Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Northern Alliance leader in control of Kabul, accepted four candidates to lead the administration, softening his opposition to ceding his power to an interim government.

Diplomats observing the talks in Bonn said Hamid Karzai, a popular Pashtun royalist, was the most likely candidate to chair the 29-member group.

The other three candidates that Mr Rabbani deems acceptable are: Abdul Sattar Sirat, justice minister under the former king; Pir Sayed Ahmad Gailani, a Pashtun spiritual leader backed by Pakistan; and Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, a former interim president living in exile in Denmark.

Mr Karzai, an influential tribal leader from the Kandahar region, the last stronghold of the Taliban, served as deputy foreign minister in Afghanistan's Mujahideen government.

He is thought to be the preferred choice of the UN and the US. But diplomats warn that Mr Rabbani is unpredictable and could scuttle an agreement.

"You can have a beautiful agreement, but when it comes down to names it becomes very difficult," said Ahmad Fawzi, the UN's spokesman at the talks.

Overnight Mr Rabbani finally agreed to formally submit a list of candidates for the 28 other positions in the executive administration. The names will be announced at a press conference in Bonn at 2pm. (1pm GMT) on Tuesday.

The Northern Alliance, which now controls most of Afghanistan, looks set to retain three important cabinet positions.

Abdullah Abdullah, the Northern Alliance's foreign minister, Yunus Qanuni, who heads the Alliance's delegation in Bonn and acts as their interior minister, and Mohammad Fahim, the Alliance's military commander, were expected to gain positions in the six-month interim administration, diplomats said.

The interim administration would rule Afghanistan until a loya jirga, or council of elders, decided the shape of a two-year transitional government. Mr Rabbani insists the names of the administration be chosen in Kabul, though the UN and the other three delegations are determined to decide the list in Bonn, a more neutral location.

Diplomats observing the talks say the younger generation of Afghan leaders, which includes Mr Qanuni, Mr Abdullah and Mr Fahim, are slowly sidelining Mr Rabbani.