WANA, April 17: In a dramatic development, the five most wanted men in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region on Saturday offered to live peacefully under tribal guarantees as their own Zalikhel tribe gave them until Sunday evening to surrender or face action.

An official source told Dawn that five tribesmen wanted for sheltering and facilitating foreign militants had conveyed to the government their willingness to live peacefully under guarantees from their Zalikhel tribe.

The offer has been communicated to the government for approval but officials were skeptical that it would be accepted.

"I don't think the government would accept anything short of total surrender", the official said.

This latest development came a day after the five wanted men, including the top men Nek Muhammad and Sharif who met a jirga at Gorgura, about 20km to the west of the regional headquarters, refused to lay down their arms and vowed to continue fighting what they called the Jihad.

The Zalikhel tribe, which met on Saturday to discuss their future line of action, decided to take on the militants to avert a confrontation with the military.

The jirga has given the militants until Sunday evening to surrender. The jirga has raised a lashkar (an armed volunteer force) of about two thousands to take on the wanted men if they did not surrender by the stipulated time, a tribal elder said.

Allahgai Wazir, commander of the tribal lashkar told Dawn that his tribesmen siding with the militants would face cash penalty of Rs1 million, demolition of their houses and banishment from the tribal area.

But some tribal elders said they had received letters from Nek Muhammad threatening them with dire consequences if they sided with the government or joined the tribal lashkar.

"We are Muslims. We have adopted the way of Allah. Pakistan has initiated the action at the Americans' behest. We are subservient to the will of Allah. Therefore, I am urging you to refrain from raising a lashkar and taking action against us. Anybody doing so would be doing at his own peril," the letter read.

But government officials downplayed the threat. "This is no more than a bluff, a hollow threat that means nothing. These militants are on the run, scared. They are sending us offers of future good conduct and threatening their own tribesmen on the other. This betrays their fear," said one senior official.

NWFP Governor Lt-Gen Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has already set a deadline of April 20 for the tribes to find a solution to the issue of foreign militants and their local supporters.

Thousands of troops including regular and paramilitary forces have massed up in the rugged tribal region amid speculation of a possible action after the expiry of the deadline.

In an apparent show of force, soldiers armed with heavy weapons have taken up positions on high ground and the surrounding mountains causing fear amongst the local population as families continue to move to safer locations.

In another significant development, Tozikhel, one of the sub-tribes of Ahmadzai Wazirs entered into an agreement with the authorities in Wana undertaking to refuse sanctuary to foreign militants and allow government functionaries together with military and paramilitary forces to carry out search and stay to verify the presence or otherwise of foreign and local militants.

The tribe has given guarantees to the tune of Rs5 million as an undertaking to abide by the agreement.

The agreement said that the tribe would impose a fine of Rs1 million on any fellow tribesmen found guilty of sheltering foreign and local militants. His house would be demolished and his family would be banished from the area, the agreement said.

"This is a significant achievement", deputy administrator, Wana, Rehmatullah Wazir told Dawn. He said that some other tribes were also expected to sign similar agreements with the administration.