April 19, 2002	Friday	Safar 5, 1423

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KABUL, April 18: Afghanistan’s former king came home on Thursday after 29 years in exile, carrying hopes of a new beginning for his volatile nation on his frail shoulders.

The 87-year-old Mohammad Zahir Shah stepped onto a red carpet at Kabul airport as an ordinary citizen, wearing a leather jacket, not a crown, and with no plans to reclaim his throne.

But some see him as the one figure possibly able to heal ethnic and warlord divisions which could plunge Afghanistan back into chaos.

“If his return can bring unity among the various tribes, then he is more than welcome,” said one man, Ahmed Rashid, as he watched the former king and his entourage speed from the airport to his new home in an exclusive Kabul suburb.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said the king’s return was a momentous day in Afghan history and he had been asked to play a “fatherly role” in the country’s future.

“His role will be to promote national unity,” Abdullah said. “He can travel throughout the country if his health conditions allow, which for the time being are perfect.”

At the airport, children gave flowers to a former monarch described as an ascetic who ruled as a modernizer for 40 years until he was deposed by Mohammad Daoud, a cousin, while on holiday in Italy.

Apart from a gathering of several hundred people at the airport, the king’s homecoming in Kabul was a mainly low-key affair, with few people out on streets to cheer his motorcade.—Reuters