Report says Taliban met Afghan officials in Saudi Arabia, spokesman denies

An unnamed Taliban official was quoted in the report as saying that the Afghan government requested the group to help conduct peaceful elections.
“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 future release.
The Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, rejected the report. Afghanistan's High Peace Council also denied the meeting.
Afghanistan’s parliamentary election is scheduled to be held on October 20. Campaign has already started.
The Taliban has generally insisted on negotiations with the U.S. and earlier this year, Washington dropped its refusal to talk with the group, saying U.S. would be willing to participate in Afghan-led peace talks. The U.S. and Taliban met for talks in Qatar in July.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Taliban were preparing for a second round of meeting with U.S. officials.
The recent report, however, citing Taliban officials, said that the plans broke down over U.S. demands for a three-month ceasefire. The Taliban were seeking prisoner exchange and removal of its members from U.S. blacklist.
“Our proposed meeting with the Americans failed to take place due to certain reasons,” a Taliban official said.