A key al-Shabab leader in Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, has so far refused to surrender, elders from his clan have told the BBC Somali Service.
The UN has reported that Mr. Aweys has handed himself over to a pro-government administration in central Somalia after falling out with al-Shabab's leader.
But Mr. Aweys is in Galmudug region with his militia with the consent of the local authorities, the elders say. They had flown there from the capital to see if he was willing to make peace.
Mr. Aweys is seen as the elder statesman of Somali Islamists and has been on a US list of people "linked to terrorism" since shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
Analysts say the administration in Adado – a town about 500km (310 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu – where Mr Aweys arrived earlier in the week, does not want to provoke clashes.
Mr. Aweys left al-Shabab territory after factions within the al-Qaeda linked group clashed last week – the first deadly infighting since it launched an insurgency in 2006.
Elders from Mr. Aweys' Haber Gedir clan, which is powerful in the Galmudug region, told the BBC they had been trying to mediate his surrender after his arrival in Adado.
They do not officially represent the UN-backed government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, though it seems likely he is fully aware of the negotiations taking place, the BBC's international development correspondent Mark Doyle says.
The elders told the BBC Somali Service that negotiations with the al-Shabab commander had so far failed.
Mr. Aweys denied that he had left al-Shabab and refused to go to Mogadishu, join the government or enter mediation talks with the government, they said.
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