October 8, 2001	Monday	Rajab 20, 1422

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ROME, Oct 7: A top aide to former Afghan monarch Mohammed Zahir Shah said Sunday the king was “shocked and saddened” by the US attacks in Afghanistan as he watched them unfold on television.

“It’s sad. It’s of course tragic. You can imagine a person coming from a country, who would feel shocked and saddened by what your country has been led into,” Hedayat Amin Arsala, a top aide to the ex-king and his chief spokesman, told AFP.

“Now my hope is that it stops quickly and that people are not hurt,” said Amin Arsala, who was foreign minister of Afghanistan in 1993-1994 after the victorious Mujahideen ousted occupying forces of the former Soviet Union.

“I really didn’t think it was inevitable,” he said of the attack, which he said he was watching on television in his Rome hotel.

“We had hoped that it could be prevented... I really can’t talk,” he added, obviously shaken by the news.

His entourage said Friday he would shortly send a delegation to Pakistan to outline their plans at the invitation of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.—AFP