Former king of Afghanistan dies

Many Afghans remember Zahir Shah's reign fondly The former King of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, has died at the age of 92 following a long illness. Zahir Shah was deposed in 1973 and went into exile, but returned to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taleban in 2002. Many Afghans had a deep love and respect for Zahir Shah, whose lengthy reign was associated with peace, security and modest political reform. His 40-year reign saw women receiving education and voting in elections, and a free press. In April 2002 the former king stepped back onto Afghan soil. He was given an overwhelming welcome... Obituary: Zahir Shah Send us your reaction Zahir Shah died at his Kabul residence in the presidential palace compound. He had returned to Kabul in 2002 after 29 years in exile, mostly spent in Italy. Zahir Shah reigned as monarch from 1933 to 1973 - a time when Afghanistan underwent some democratisation but remained underdeveloped economically. Neutral figure During his long exile, the former king witnessed his country laid low by war, and the rise of the harsh Islamic regime of the Taleban. Born in Kabul in 1914, Zahir Shah was educated in France and was only 19 when he ascended the throne in 1933 after his father was assassinated. After World War II, in which he succeeded in maintaining both Afghanistan's neutrality and its borders, the king recognised the need for modernisation. Zahir Shah brought in foreign advisers, founded the first modern university, and fostered cultural and commercial relations with Europe. The former king spent nearly three decades in exile But amid the modernisation, dark undercurrents of wrangling between the country's tribal factions remained. In July 1973, while he was in Italy receiving medical treatment for an eye condition, Zahir Shah was ousted in a coup orchestrated by his cousin, Mohammad Daoud. Daoud opposed his efforts to open up the country and develop contacts with the West. In the years following the coup, the last monarch of a 200-year-old Pashtun dynasty lived in a villa outside Rome. During this time Afghanistan descended into factional violence and war. In 2002, Zahir Shah returned to his country to attend a meeting, known as a loya jirga, to decide Afghanistan's future. He moved back into his former palace in the capital, Kabul, as part of an agreement reached at the meeting. He had agreed not to stand against Hamid Karzai for the post of Afghan head of state. "It gives me great pleasure to come back, great pleasure," the monarch said on returning to his country. Despite being viewed by some Afghans as a potential threat, Zahir Shah was seen as the one figure who could bridge the country's divisions, says the BBC's Catherine Davis. He was given the symbolic title, Father of the Nation - though he was an ethnic Pashtun, he was keen to distance himself from politics and tribal loyalties. The former king has eight children. one of them, Shah Mahmoud Zahir, died in Rome in 2002 at the age of 56.