A Taliban spokesman on Friday denied that representatives met an Afghan government delegation this week after sources in the movement told reporters that officials from both sides met in Saudi Arabia to discuss security ahead of elections next month.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s main spokesman, issued a short statement denying the meeting, less than a month before voters are due to go to the polls on Oct. 20 to elect a new Afghan parliament.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office declined to comment.
The process has been hampered by fears of attacks on polling stations and campaign rallies. Ensuring the vote passes off smoothly and without violence has been a top priority for the Afghan government and its international partners.
“They requested us to help them conduct peaceful elections,” said one of the Taliban officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The Afghan delegation has agreed with us on the release of prisoners,” he said, adding that some prisoners facing minor charges had already been released and officials had divided up others into three categories, depending on their importance, for release.
The Taliban, who regard the internationally recognized Afghan government as an illegitimate regime imposed by foreign powers, has generally insisted on negotiating only with the US, but there have been regular unofficial contacts.
Earlier this year, Washington dropped its refusal to talk with the Taliban, saying that it would be willing to participate in Afghan-led peace talks, while US and Taliban delegations met for talks in Doha, Qatar, in July.
The Taliban officials said the meeting in Saudi Arabia came after plans for another meeting with US officials broke down over demands from Washington for a three-month ceasefire.
“Some of our senior people were not in the favor of holding talks with the Afghan government, as until now we were calling them puppets and refused to meet them, but our proposed meeting with the Americans failed to take place due to certain reasons,” one senior Taliban leader said in Qatar.
The US Department of State declined to comment.
The officials said US demands for a ceasefire were something the leadership could not agree to, so no formal meeting was held.
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