WANA, May 17: In a major development in the standoff over foreign militants hiding in the outh Waziristan tribal region, a tribal militant on Monday dissociated himself from their rank and offered to back up military operations , government officials and tribal elders said.

"Nek Mohammad has conveyed to us that he has parted ways with foreign militants and that he would abide by the Shakai Agreement and if needed he would cooperate with the tribe in the search for his former comrades," South Waziristan Political Agent Asmatullah Khan Gandapur told Dawn by phone from the regional headquarters, Wana.

An eighteen-member jirga that had met tribal militants including their chieftain Nek Mohammad, in Wana earlier in the day to discuss ways and means to resolve the standoff over registration, later conveyed the message to the authorities.

The 27-year-old militant gained prominence following the military operation in Kaloosha near Wana in March against foreign militants. Nek Mohammad together with four other tribal militants, wanted for sheltering foreign militants, won clemency from the government in Shakai on April 24, in return for a pledge to remain peaceful and not use Pakistan's soil against any other country.

The issue of registration of foreign militants, which the government insisted was part of the Shakai Agreement and Nek Mohammad said it was not, had led to a standoff and sparked fear of another military operation in the region.

Mr Gandapur claimed that Nek Mohammad had committed himself before his Ahmadzai Wazir tribe to honour the Shakai Agreement. "If at any point the tribe comes to realize that he has been fooling them, then naturally he will have to face the consequences," he said.

Maulana Merajuddin, a tribal parliamentarian from the region, who was part of the 18-member jirga that met with the tribal militants and later the administrator, however, had a different version.

He told Dawn by phone that Nek Mohammad and his other comrades told the jirga that foreign militants were no longer in the Wana region. He quoted him as saying that there had been no 'important' foreign militant before and the few 'insignificant' people there had been in the region had also moved out to unknown areas.

"There were about 30 to 35 foreigners in the region ready for registration, but when the government insisted that they would have to come to Wana Scouts Camp and appear before the authorities for registration, they got so scared that they fled," Merajuddin said quoting Nek Mohammad.

The former Taliban leader had also assured the jirga that he would not 'block' any search operation by the government aimed at finding foreign militants in the tribal region.

Nek Mohammad was not immediately available for comments on the claims by the jirga and the administration. Mr Gandapur said that he was not satisfied with the claim that there were no foreign militant and would like to see how the tribal lashkar fared in its resolve to find and flush out foreign militants.