Qatar says Washington, Taliban make progress in marathon talks

DOHA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Qatar on Tuesday announced that the United States and Taliban have made progress in their longest round of negotiations in Doha to end a 17-year-old war in a strife-torn Afghanistan.

The two sides agreed on a four-point draft comprehensive peace deal to be implemented in accordance with time frames and conditions to be agreed upon.

The talks between Taliban and U.S. diplomats have lasted longer than any previous negotiations between the two sides since U.S. troops entered Afghanistan in 2001.

It is unclear, however, if the Afghan government and other Afghan political leaders will be ready to embrace the tentative deal worked out by U.S. presidential envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.