Last king of Afghanistan dies

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.