Noor Islam, former Taliban commander from the Yargulkhel tribe (right with gun), surrenders to Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain Shah in Shakai, 25 km north of Wana. (AFP)

Shakai (Pakistan), April 24 : Pakistan today gave amnesty to five tribesmen wanted for sheltering al Qaida suspects after they surrendered to the military at a tribal assembly near the Afghanistan border, officials said.

Announcing the amnesty for the wanted militants, Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain Shah, the regional army commander, also set April 30 as a deadline for the foreign militants hiding in South Waziristan to surrender. Allah Noor, who surrendered today in the general’s presence, said the military would launch a fresh operation if these militants fail to surrender or come out with a guarantee.

The wanted tribesmen formally surrendered in the presence of thousands of locals in the Shakai area, 25 km north of Wana. The five fugitives were expected to hand in a list of foreign militants living with them in South Waziristan, a desolate region where Osama bin Laden has been pursued in the past.

Thousands of turbanned Pashtun tribesmen looked on as the five men from the Zali Kheil tribe turned themselves in before a “jirga”, or tribal council, and pledged loyalty to Pakistan in return for clemency.

The surrendering men gave traditional peace offerings of turbans, pistols and swords to the army officers. “We give amnesty to these people in return for their pledge of brotherhood and loyalty,” said General Hussain who arrived at the jirga to chants of “Allah-u-Akbar”, or “God is Greatest”.

Amid loud applause from tribesmen famous for their independence from state authority, the leader of the five declared his allegiance. “Pakistan is our home. We want peace here. The Pakistani forces are our brothers,” Nek Mohammad said. “We regret for what has been done on the basis of misunderstanding.”

Under terms brokered by local Islamist parliamentarians, Nek Mohammad’s band faced a choice of surrendering or expulsion from their homeland in the semi-autonomous region of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.