PESHAWAR, Jan 10: Authorities in the South Waziristan tribal region on Saturday gave tribesmen until Monday to contemplate action against those involved in Thursday's rocket attack that left four Pakistani soldiers dead, and hand over those harbouring Al Qaeda remnants.

The ultimatum was delivered to a Jirga of 250 Waziri tribesmen in Wana, following the rocket attack on the Pakistan Army brigade headquarters by local militants.

Officials acknowledge the attack was in retaliation hours after an army operation was carried out at Kalusha village to arrest three tribesmen accused of harbouring and facilitating Al Qaeda remnants.

They said more troops were being sent to the region in anticipation of a possible showdown with tribesmen refusing to comply with official orders.

"We want to root out this problem once and for all," said one senior administration official.

The administrator of the tribal region told Dawn that he had made it plain to the Jirga that the government would take strong action if they failed to comply with orders.

"We were very clear. If you fail to execute your responsibility, then we have several options before us. I made it very clear to them that failure to fulfil our demands would entail very serious repercussions and I believe the point was not lost on them," said Mohammad Azam Khan, who administers the biggest of the seven tribal agencies.

Officials said the federal government had taken a grim view of the casualties of soldiers and had ordered strong action against those behind it.

The Pakistan Army has lost 16 of its soldiers in South Waziristan since June 2002.

Mr Azam Khan said the government wanted the Waziri tribesmen to hand over those behind the rocket attack, demolish their houses, and turn over those who harboured and facilitated Al Qaeda remnants.

He said the government's response would depend on what action the tribesmen took. "We will see whether they form any lashkar and take action. If they do so, we will back them up. If they don't, the repercussions are going to be very bad, both physically and economically," he said without elaborating.

The warning came as NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah convened a meeting in Islamabad to discuss Thursday's attack and its possible ramifications for the law and order situation in the region.

A senior official, who attended the meeting, said the government had decided to go very tough and show no leniency towards those involved in the attack.

"We will go very strong. Much stronger than before. And there will be more operations, bigger than before. We intend to deal a fatal blow to those who have defied the writ of the government," Fata secretary Mahmood Shah said.

One of the three tribesmen accused of harbouring Al Qaeda remnants, however, was quoted by a foreign radio as claiming innocence. He said the authorities had unfairly targeted him. He said he was willing to prove his innocence before a Jirga but insisted that he did not trust authorities who, he suspected, could turn him over to the Americans.

"We have given our word that they would not be handed over to any other country," Mr Azam Khan said.

dpa adds: The Pakistan Army on Saturday rushed in some 500 commandos to reinforce the hunt for the Taliban and Al Qaeda fugitives in Wana.