PESHAWAR, March 7: In a major development on Sunday, tribesmen from the largest tribe in South Waziristan agreed to launch hundreds of their armed men to track down key suspects harbouring Al Qaeda remnants and hand them over to the government, a senior official said.

South Waziristan administrator Muhammad Azam Khan welcomed the decision reached at a Jirga of the Zalikhel tribe, a sub-tribe of the Ahmadzai Wazirs. "This is a major development," he told Dawn by phone from regional headquarters in Wana.

According to the decision brokered by five senators from Fata, the Zalikhel tribesmen would constitute a force of tribal volunteers of nearly 600 people and send them on the trail of five key suspects on Monday.

Authorities had identified the five suspects, all from the Zalikhel tribe, at the Jirga which would now look for them, catch them and turn them over to the government for questioning. They are Haji Sharif and his brother Noor Islam, Maulavi Nek Muhammad, Maulavi Abbas and Maulavi Aziz.

The five have been avoiding the arrest. Attempts by the authorities to catch them through a tribal lashkar in the past had met with no success. Officials said their failure in capturing the five individuals was the result of Zalikhels' own foot-dragging on the issue.

"Zalikhels have not been cooperating. Now, for the first time, they say they will go after these people and catch them for us. This is no small development," Mr Azam Khan said.

A tribal lashkar in January had rounded up 49 of the over 90 tribesmen wanted on suspicion of sheltering foreign militants but failed to get the main suspects.

Officials said the arrests last week of some influential Zalikhel tribesmen appeared to have made the tribe change its mind. The Jirga demanded that their elders be set free before they could initiate their own operation against the wanted men, Mr Azam Khan said. "But we let it be conveyed to them that they would be freed only if the lashkar showed results in apprehending those wanted to us," he said.

The senators who played a key role in brokering the deal are Malik Muhammad Ajmal (North Waziristan Agency), Tahir Orakzai (Orakzai Agency), Rashid Khan and Sajjad Hussain (Kurram Agency) and Hamidullah Afridi (Khyber Agency).

The Jirga also sought relaxation in the ban on carrying of arms by their lashkar and the official said their demand had been accepted. "Those carrying arms while accompanying the lashkar should tie a red piece of cloth round their rifles," the administrator said.

Last week, authorities had imposed a ban on carrying and display of weapons in the Wana sub-division following the killing of 12 civilians by troops mistaking them for militants. Also on Monday, the Zalikhel tribe would choose a commander for its lashkar to spearhead the campaign.

Agencies add: The Jirga decided that if any local tribesman provided shelter to any foreigner, his house would be demolished and a fine of one million rupees would be imposed on him.