Peacekeepers prepare for king's arrival

Peacekeepers in Afghanistan are carrying out security checks on a house being refurbished for exiled King Mohammed Zaher Shah when he returns to Kabul this month.

The force will also provide an ambulance service, if it is needed by the 87-year-old king, Lieutenant Colonel Neal Peckham said today.

‘‘He’s quite a senior gentleman and somewhat frail,’’ Peckham said.

Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai said he will travel to Rome on or around March 23 to pick up the king and return with him to Afghanistan.

It will be the first time in three decades Zaher Shah has been able to take up residence in the family home - last used by the Taliban’s prime minister.

The peacekeepers are conducting security checks and doing some ‘‘engineering work’’ to ensure the house is safe from potential attacks, Peckham said.

Afghan officials will provide security for the king once he steps off the plane in Kabul, Peckham said, not the peacekeeping force.

Zaher Shah is loved by much of the country, and remembered for the progress and relative prosperity that accompanied his 40 year rule.

Many have looked to him as a symbolic figure who could help heal Afghanistan’s war wounds and bring together feuding ethnic and tribal groups.