Former Afghan king Mohammad Zahir Shah dead at 92 (Roundup)

Jul 23, 2007, 14:11 GMT

A file photograph showing former Afghan King Mohammad Zahir Shah in 1973. Former Afghan King Mohammad Zahir Shah has died aged 92, it was announced 23 July 2007. Shah ruled Afghanistan from 1933 until he was deposed in 1973 and lived in exile Italy before returning home in 2002. EPA/STR

Kabul - Afghanistan went into mourning Monday as it paid tribute to former king Mohammad Zahir Shah, who died earlier in the day of natural causes. He was 92.

A tearful Afghan President Hamid Karzai made the announcement of Zahir Shah's death at a press conference and declared a three-day period of national mourning.

'With great grief I would like to inform my dear compatriots that H.E. Mohammad Zahir Shah, father of the nation of Afghanistan, has died at 5:45 am this morning,' the president said.

'Zahir Shah was the king and ruled the country for 40 years and served the people, was a friend of the people, fellow-worker of his people, and a kind and soft-hearted man,' Karzai said with tears in his eyes.

Karzai declared a three-day national mourning period, during which the Afghan national flag in Afghanistan and all its diplomatic missions throughout the world will fly at half-mast.

Karzai described the ex-king as a man who believed in the rule of the people, in their freedom and in the rights of humanity.

After the fall of the Taliban regime Zahir Shah returned to his homeland in 2002 after 29 years in exile in Italy. He resided at the queen's palace inside Karzai's presidential palace until his last day.

He was given the title 'Father of the Nation' by the Afghan parliament, but played no political role.

Zahir Shah came to the throne on November 8, 1933 after the assassination of his father, King Nadir Shah.

He lost his throne in 1973 following a coup d'etat while he was traveling abroad. He lived in Rome until his return to Afghanistan in 2002.

When Zahir Shah returned to his homeland shortly after the fall of the Taliban to a US-led coalition, he was greeted by costumed tribesmen dancing in the streets.

But he remained modest about his own aspirations, saying he merely wanted to serve his country in any way available to him in the remaining years of his life.

'I'm a patriot who does his duty. I will carry out any role or mission the people of Afghanistan wish to bestow on me,' he was quoted as saying in a recent interview.