Mohammad Zahir Shah, last king of Afghanistan, dies at age 92

Source: Associated Press

Mohammad Zahir Shah, last king of Afghanistan, dies at age 92

Published: July 23, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan: Mohammad Zahir Shah, the last king
of Afghanistan who returned from three decades of exile
to bless his war-battered country's fragile course toward
democracy, has died, President Hamid Karzai said Monday.
He was 92.

Weak if well-meaning during his 40-year reign, Zahir Shah
was a symbol of yearned-for peace and unity in a nation
still struggling to emerge from the turmoil that began
with his 1973 ouster in a palace coup.

When the fall of the Taliban at the end of 2001 offered
fresh hope for national reconciliation, many clamored for
Zahir Shah's return — not only from exile but to retake
the throne.

Zahir Shah returned home from Italy in April 2002, but
stood aside in favor of a young anti-Taliban tribesman,
the now-President Karzai. A new constitution passed in
January 2004 consigned the monarchy to history with
Zahir Shah named the ceremonial "Father of the
Nation," a position that will dissolve with his death.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/23/asia/AS-GEN-Obit-Zahir-Shah.php

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Source: Reuters

Afghanistan's former King dies aged 92
Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:13AM EDT

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Former King Mohammad Zahir Shah, whose
40-year reign until his exile in 1973 coincided with one of the
most peaceful periods in Afghanistan's recent history, died on
Monday, aged 92.

"With paramount grief, I would like to inform my countrymen
that ... Mohammad Zahir Shah has bid farewell to this mortal
world," President Hamid Karzai told reporters at the
presidential palace.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSSP16177420070723

He was FORCED out by the Busheviks despite being the top choice of the 2002 Loya Jirga (mostly on the grounds that he had the fewest number of people pissed off at him). His problem was that unlike Karzai, he was not a loyal oil industry employee.