WANA, May 28: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah on Friday ordered punitive action against the entire Ahmadzai Wazir tribe for failing to deliver on foreign militants hiding in South Waziristan.

The governor's speech to a tribal jirga made clear to the tribesmen that the government was running out of options for peacefully resolving the issue. "This is the last chance," he declared in a speech berating the tribesmen for failing to hound out foreign militants and rein in native clansmen giving them shelter.

The speech signalled the demise of the April 24 Shakai rapprochement that had best owed amnesty on the five most wanted tribesmen in return for a pledge to remain peaceful and not use Pakistan's soil against any other country.

The agreement had hit snags when the government insisted the pardoned tribesmen would have to get foreign militants registered in line with the terms of the rapprochement, a claim denied by tribal militants.

Governor Iftikhar, who flew into the regional headquarters, told the jirga he had directed the political authorities to use powers under the 1901 Frontier Crimes Regulation.

He said the government was now constrained to use the tribal laws and the action would begin from Saturday. Sources said the authorities would hold the entire tribe responsible under the collective responsibility clause of the FCR and impose economic sanctions to pressure it into submitting to the government's demand on foreign militants.

Officials said that the authorities could begin by seizing commercial property of the tribe but they were also considering imposing an economic blockade later as a last resort before contemplating a military operation against foreign militants and their supporters.

"The tradition of lashkar and dhol (drum) has totally failed. Now we will make use of the tribal laws," the governor said. "The beam of hope in Shakai agreement turned out to be only ashes," he remarked.

He said the government had shown leniency but the tribesmen had taken it for its weakness. "The tribal lashkar," he said, "turned out to be a farce." He said the main reason behind backwardness in South Waziristan was its lawlessness.

He said terrorists hiding in the region were fighting Pakistan. "People are not even safe in mosques and other places of worship," he said. "Is this Islam?" he asked. Referring to the amnesty offer to foreign militants announced by President Gen Pervez Musharraf, the governor said the government had gonethe whole hog by not only compensating victims of the military operation but also pardoning the wanted men.

He said those who pocketed dollars by granting shelter to foreign militants were actually responsible for deviating from the Shakai agreement. "I know these windbags, their past and present," he said.