Ex-Afghan King Makes Historic Return
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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.
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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.