Afghanistan's last monarch makes his final journey

Jul 24, 2007, 15:47 GMT

Kabul, - Afghanistan's last monarch King Mohammad Zahir Shah, who died of natural causes Monday at the age of 92, was given a state burial in Kabul on Tuesday in a ceremony attended by several foreign dignitaries.

Draped in an Afghan national flag, and escorted by an honour guard, Zahir Shah's coffin was carried from the Presidential Palace to the Eidgah mosque, where prayers were held.

Afterwards the coffin was taken to the Maranjan Hill where Zahir Shah was to be laid to rest in a tomb alongside his father, Nadir Shah, and wife, Hosaina.

With the band of the president's guards playing the national anthem, cannon were fired to salute the 'Father of the Nation,' who ruled the country for four decades from 1933 to 1973, when he was deposed by his cousin Daoud Khan and went into 29 years of exile in Rome.

His funeral was attended by members of the Japanese royal family, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and US ambassador William Wood. Mourners were greeted by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who called Zahir Shah 'a symbol of national unity.'

Zahir Shah 'played a unique role in helping to restore the unity of the Afghan people and Afghanistan's democratic values,' Miliband said, while US President George W Bush said in a statement that 'Zahir Shah was a monumental figure in Afghan history, and his life spanned vast changes in that country's political system.'

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 travelling abroad.

After the fall of the Taliban regime to a US-led coalition Zahir Shah returned to his homeland in 2002 and was greeted by costumed tribesmen dancing in the streets. He resided at the queen's palace inside Karzai's presidential palace until his death.

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

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.