PESHAWAR: Amid reports of terrorist attacks on personnel of the law-enforcement agencies in tribal as well as settled areas, a Jirga tasked to broker a deal with militants held its first-ever face-to-face meeting with local Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud on Tuesday.

Sources privy to the Jirga, negotiating between the government and the tribal militants, told this scribe that armed militants of Baitullah Mehsud took the Jirga members to his hideout in six pick-up trucks somewhere in North Waziristan where they held a detailed meeting.

"Baitullah personally received us in his stronghold and assured us of his full cooperation in the restoration of peace in the tribal areas as well as the settled districts of the province, where the militants linked to his Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan are operating," said a Jirga member, but wished anonymity.

He said the Jirga members informed Baitullah Mehsud about the government's commitment to fulfil its pledge for a durable peace in the region and better relations with the people of the tribal areas.

The sources said Baitullah told the Jirga members that some people in Pakistan's intelligence agencies at the behest of the US did not want peace deal between the government and tribal militants.

"Pakistan is our own country which our forefathers achieved after rendering great sacrifices, how can we think of destroying it? But there are some people in the intelligence agencies and the government set-up who want the turmoil to continue in the tribal areas along with Afghanistan so that their vested interests could be served better," said the Jirga member, who is a prominent tribal cleric having strong ties with the militants, while quoting Baitullah Mehsud as telling the Jirga.

The two-week deadlock in talks between the government and the militants ended on Monday after the government took an initiative to approach a tribal Jirga for brokering a peace deal with the Baitullah Mehsud-led fighters.

Also, the sources said Baitullah once again repeated his previous demands to the Jirga and said he was ready to sign a peace deal with the government but once the Pakistan Army troops were pulled out of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the gun-manufacturing town of Darra Adam Khel and the Swat district of the NWFP.

Besides, Baitullah demanded removal of all roadside checkpoints manned by the Pakistan Army and paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), release of all the militants and their relatives detained on charges of militancy, compensation to the people who suffered losses during the military operations and also that the government's law-enforcement agencies would not lay hand on their people anywhere in the country.

"I promise, I and my people will remain peaceful and will never attack the security forces and government installations anywhere in the country but once the government accepts my genuine demands," explained the source while quoting the Taliban's most powerful commander as assuring the Jirga members in the talks.

He said the Jirga, after holding talks with Baitullah and his key commander, said they would now meet senior government functionaries to inform them about the outcome of the negotiations.

It may be recalled that the Jirga members had refused negotiations between the two parties after the government all of a sudden backed out of its commitment to withdraw troops from the tribal areas and the Swat district.