PESHAWAR, Jan 16: The NWFP Governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah on Tuesday warned the tribal people not to give refuge or extend any support to the infiltrators from Afghanistan, or no leniency would be shown to them.

He said the fighters in Afghanistan were now heading towards Pakistan, as they had no other way out. They could not flee to either Iran or any other country of Central Asia, therefore, they were trying to enter the tribal areas adjacent to Afghanistan.

Addressing a gathering of tribal people at Tirrah Maidan (Khyber Agency), hitherto an inaccessible area for government functionaries, the governor said that the government wanted to investigate the fighters coming from Afghanistan. He asked the tribal people to cooperate with the government and the administration as it was in the larger interest of the country. Helping these elements, he explained, would amount to enmity with the country.

The governor said the government would bring the far-flung and backward areas of FATA into the mainstream of national development by carrying out developmental schemes in the tribal areas. For development of these areas, a package of Rs1.58 billion was being prepared. Out of the said package, construction of roads, educational institutes and health centres would be given top priority, he added.

Mr Shah said that these areas had remained deprived of development for decades. The backwardness of the area, he said, was due to the negligence of previous governments and partly due to the people of the area.

The governor also appreciated the tribal people for having welcomed the Pakistan army in their areas. This gesture, he maintained, was a proof of the fact that tribal people were ready to offer any sacrifice for the defence of the country’s frontiers. He said that Pakistan faced various kinds of challenges today.

He asked the tribal people to follow in the footsteps of their forefathers and extend their full support to the Pakistan army. Deployment of army in their areas, he explained, had been done for a special purpose and added that the army would be pulled out as soon as the said purpose was served.

He said the government strongly believed that the brave tribal people could effectively defend the Western border of the country.

The governor said that as a neighbouring country Pakistan was deeply upset by the destruction in Afghanistan. All this, he said, had happened due to the wrong and unrealistic policies and inept stubbornness of Taliban.

Mr Shah that Pakistan had been telling the Taliban leadership that they should not take any such decision that further increased the hardships of Afghanistan and its people. However, these unwise people brought destruction to millions of people just to give protection to a handful of people.

The President Gen Musharaf, he maintained, was the only leader among the leaders of 54 Islamic countries who raised voice in the interest of Afghans.

In reply to the demands of the people, the governor assured them that all their demands would be accepted, as the government wanted these areas to progress rapidly.

He said that a chain of roads was going to be built and educational facilities given in the area. The possibility of constructing small dams there was also being looked into.

The areas would also be given the facility of electricity. He, however, made it clear that they would have to pay for the facility of electricity.