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Updated: 2002-04-24 01:00
Mohammad Zahir Shah  
Afghanistan's ex-king (1914-) Notes:

Ex-Afghan King Makes Historic Return

Afghanistan's ex-king Mohammad Zahir Shah (R) waves while accompanied by head of the interim Afghan government, Hamid Karzai upon arrival at the Kabul airport April 18, 2002.

Afghanistan's ex-king, Mohammad Zahir Shah(1914-), stepped onto the soil of his homeland Thursday after 29 years exile in Italy, carrying on his frail shoulders hopes for a sea change in the nation's warring politics.

The historic return of the 87-year-old Zahir Shah, as an ordinary citizen who will not take back the throne, placed the ailing former monarch into a possibly significant political role.

Six government ministers went with Karzai to Rome to escort home Zahir Shah and his family. Young children presented flowers to a monarch described as an ascetic who ruled Afghanistan as a modernizer for 40 years until deposed by a cousin while on holiday in Italy in 1973. During his three-decade absence, the land of 23 million people, once a safe and popular stop on the Asian hippie trail, descended into a hell hole of death and devastation.

The king stepped onto home soil on a day of tragedy and violence for Afghans and international troops pursuing Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda fighters and ousted Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who gave him sanctuary.

"The last few years of my life, I'd like to dedicate that to the people of Afghanistan and to my country," Zahir Shah told CNN in an interview hours before he left Rome.

Karzai has gambled the monarch's return will not upset a delicate balance of power that has ruled since the fundamentalist Taliban were driven from power.

Ethnic Tajiks from northern Afghanistan, who were in the forefront of the U.S.-led war against the Taliban, control the powerful defense, interior and foreign ministries even though they are a minority.

Pashtuns, mainly from southern Afghanistan, hope the king can become a rallying figure for them, particularly at a Loya Jirga, or grand council, in June that will either endorse Karzai's Western-backed administration or choose a new government.

Zahir Shah went from living in an ancient palace filled with retainers and priceless art to the seclusion of a villa in Rome when he was overthrown by a cousin in 1973. He now takes up residence at a two story house in Kabul's most exclusive suburb.

The ex-king's reign was marked by women getting the vote and establishment of the first modern university.

The king, fluent in French, English and Farsi, studied in France.

But opponents dismiss Zahir Shah as an ineffectual ruler who was off hunting and fishing while the storm clouds that led to Afghanistan's decades of war were gathering.

The former king has said he will never leave Afghanistan once he returns.









sea change: 翻天覆地的变化






ailing: 体衰的



escort:陪同

ascetic:禁欲主义者;苦行者
depose:罢黜







 

dedicate:奉献给

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

seclusion: 隐居地

 
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