Last king of Afghanistan dies

Mohammad Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, has died, President Hamid Karzai said today. He was 92.

Mohammad Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, has died, President Hamid Karzai said today. 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 fall in a palace coup.

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

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