Afghanistan's former king dead at age 92

KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's former king Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last monarch of the troubled nation, died on Monday at the age of 92 at his Kabul residence, President Hamid Karzai said.

"We announce three days of national mourning over the death of the father of the nation, and the Afghan flag will be at half mast for three days," Karzai told reporters at a press conference.

"Prayer ceremonies will be held across the country, in the capital, in the provinces, by Afghan refugees overseas and in Afghan embassies."

Zahir Shah, who ruled Afghanistan for four decades, ended the centuries-old monarchy by abdicating while on holiday in Italy in 1973 after hearing his former premier Mohammad Daud, who was also his cousin, had staged a coup.

He returned home from exile several months after the 2001 collapse of the ultra-Islamist Taliban regime brought by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan that followed the events of 9/11.

The title "Father of the Nation" was awarded to him at a constitutional assembly after his return home from 29 years in exile.

His 40-year reign is remembered as a time of peace and stability.
Zahir Shah was in poor health for the last years of his life, using a wheelchair.

His wife Homaira, whom he married in 1931, died as preparations were under way for her to return to Afghanistan to join her husband in 2002. The couple had five sons and two daughters.