The four-page pact spells out a timetable for the United States to withdraw its 13,000 troops from Afghanistan; in exchange, the Taliban agreed to sever its ties with al Qaeda, the terrorist group that launched the Sept. 11 attacks against the U.S.
It also sets the stage for further negotiations between Afghanistan's government and the Taliban, a militant Islamist group that once ruled Afghanistan and provided safe haven to Osama bin Laden. American officials hope those talks will lead to a power-sharing deal, a permanent end to the bloody conflict, and a full withdrawal of American forces.