KABUL -- The Taliban said in a statement Saturday they would provide a "legal guarantee" that they wouldn't intervene in foreign countries if international troops withdraw from Afghanistan, the closest the movement has come to publicly distancing itself from al Qaeda.

The Taliban have "no agenda of meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and is ready to give legal guarantee if the foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan," the group said in a statement emailed to news organizations. The statement didn't specify...