Security tight ahead of Afghan ex-king's funeral

Kabul, July 24: Afghan and foreign troops beefed up security in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, today ahead of the state funeral for the country's last king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, who died at the age of 92, officials said.

Several thousand Afghan forces and hundreds of NATO and the US-led coalition soldiers were involved in tightening security in Kabul, which has seen an increased number of suicide attacks by resurgent Taliban rebels in the last two years.

The focus was the airport where foreign dignitaries will arrive to attend the state funeral on Teppe Maranjan, a hill overlooking Kabul where several royal family members are also buried.

President Hamid Karzai has declared a three days of mourning and ordered flags flown at half mast for the man who ruled Afghanistan for 40 years before being overthrown in a bloodless coup by his cousin in 1973.

That put an end to the most peaceful era of the country in its recent history and since then Afghanistan has seen a succession of coups, wars and foreign military interventions that cost millions of lives and devastated towns, cities and villages.

Called as the ''father of the nation'' and seen as a symbol of national unity among the fractious nation, Zahir Shah returned from 29 years of exile in 2002 to live out his last years as an ordinary citizen.

He was regarded as a shrewd politician who managed to balance Cold War rivals and later served as advisor to Karzai.

The former king died in his bed after months of illness yesterday.

Zahir Shah came from a long line of ethnic Pashtun rulers and was the last monarch of a dynasty established in 1747.

The former king's reign is remembered as one of the most tranquil periods of Afghanistan's turbulent history.

Some Afghans look back with nostalgia at Zahir Shah's rule, but others saw him as an ineffective, weak ruler.

Reuters>