Islamabad: In the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistan Army chief has informed the country's leadership that if tensions with India mount further, the military has to move troops from its restive tribal areas to the eastern borders, ending the war against local militants.

Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani told President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani if India escalates tensions, then Pakistan has to move its troops from the tribal areas to the eastern borders and it would not be possible to continue the war against terrorism, reports said.

Kayani met Zardari and Gilani twice on Saturday and informed them about the operational preparedness of Pakistan s armed forces to meet any eventuality.

Meanwhile, militant groups in Pakistan s lawless tribal areas contacted the government following an increase in tensions with India and offered a truce if the army stops its operations against them. As a sign that the ceasefire offer may be accepted, the Pakistan Army has declared to the media that "some notorious militant commanders, including Baitullah Mehsud and (Maulana) Fazlullah, (are) patriotic Pakistanis", the pro-establishment The News daily reported today.

Mehsud, blamed by former President Pervez Musharraf s regime for the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, and Fazlullah have been fighting the army for the past four years. The "aftermath of the Mumbai carnage has suddenly turned terrorists into patriots", the daily said.

"We have no big issues with the militants in (the tribal areas). We have only some misunderstandings with Baitullah Mehsud and Fazlullah. These misunderstandings could be removed through dialogue," a top security official told Pakistani journalists on Saturday.

Source : PTI