Thirty-four wanted tribal militants, including a senior leader of a constituent of Pakistan's Islamist alliance have surrendered before officials in North Waziristan as part of a peace deal.
General secretary of Jamait Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman group) in North Waziristan Agency, Maulana Abdur Rehman, was among those who surrendered on Monday as part of the deal brokered by tribal elders, Islamic clerics and the civil administration.
JUI-F is part of the Islamist alliance Muthahida Majlis Amal.
"They (surrendered militants) are now loyal and patriotic Pakistanis," North Waziristan chief administrator Zaheerul Islam was quoted as saying in the media in Islamabad at a ceremony in Miranshah.
He made no mention of amnesty to the 34 militants.
"We do not know if there are any foreigners in North Waziristan. If there is anybody, he should register himself with the government," Rehman said on the occasion.
The peace deal comes after months of fighting between security forces and tribal militants, and operations in Khattey Kaley in September in which both sides reportedly suffered heavy casualties.
Key JUI-F leader and former MNA Maulana Deen Dar brokered the deal with the militants, mostly from his own party, the Daily Times reported.
Tribal cleric Maulana Sadiq Noor, described by the former Peshawar corps commander Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain as a "key al-Qaeda facilitator," was not among those who laid down their weapons and talks were on to negotiate Noor's surrender as well, an official said.
