Fit For A King?

By Rebecca Winters

It may be a sign of how dire Afghanistan's future looks that its best hope for peace may rest with a reclusive 86-year-old deposed monarch who hasn't set foot in the country for nearly 30 years. Now living in exile in a Rome suburb, Mohammed Zahir Shah ruled, largely as a figurehead, from 1933 until he was ousted in a 1973 coup led by his cousin. Many Afghans recall the King's reign as a period of relative peace and prosperity. European diplomats hoping to capitalize on his status as a unifying symbol have visited the aging leader's four-bedroom home in efforts to involve him in an anti-Taliban coalition. Zahir Shah, who came to power at 19 when his father was assassinated, has said he has no intention of returning to the monarchy. But after Sept. 11, he broadcast calls for an emergency meeting of tribal and political leaders in Afghanistan. "People didn't know whom to look to," says Ismael Yoon, a professor at Kabul University who fled to Pakistan. "But once they heard Zahir Shah, they saw there was a way."

--By Rebecca Winters. Reported by Terry McCarthy/Islamabad and Greg Burke/Rome

With reporting by Terry McCarthy/Islamabad and Greg Burke/Rome