ROME: “I watched the attack on Afghanistan on television with a sense of deep anguish for my people, who have already been suffering enormously for many years,” said Afghanistan’s ex-king Zahir Shah, the day after the first American missiles rained down on Afghan towns on October 7.

Contrary to the tide of history that has made monarchs an almost extinct species, the exiled 87-year-old has suddenly found himself being called in from the cold.

As planning began for United States-led military action against the Taliban regime, part of the worldwide diplomatic activity has centred on Rome, where Zahir Shah has lived since 1973.

Since the coup, Zahir Shah has lived in Rome’s exclusive residential suburb of Olgiata.

Zahir Shah wants to help restore order in Afghanistan and, indeed, he can draw from his wealth of diplomatic experience. This monarch frequently toured abroad during his reign. His links with continental Europe date to his student days in France. Even today, he is known to converse in fluent French with international guests.

As an ex-king, Zahir Shah has access to the world of the ancient regimes in Europe — monarchs who reign no longer and the old aristocracy.

“It is necessary to restore the Loya Jirga, the assembly of political and religious notables,” he told journalists as diplomatic moves around him intensified.

Zahir Shah’s continuing importance, even in exile, was driven home to him in a violent way — through a failed assassination attempt some years ago. The would-be assassin, posing as a journalist, stabbed him with a knife as they talked across a table, but the blow above Zahir Shah’s heart was cushioned by a cigar case in his breast pocket. Closed circuit cameras alerted security, who rushed in to foil further attempt.

The sheer length of Zahir Shah’s rule — 40 years — is testimony to the fact that the ex-king was able to manage the consensus of the different ethnic groups that make up the Afghan population — the majority Pashtun from the south, as well the Tajik and Uzbek in the north, and the Hazara.

Zahir Shah, who became king at age 19 after his father was assassinated in 1933, opened up isolated Afghanistan to the world while maintaining neutrality towards the US and the Soviet Union. In 1964, he promulgated a new constitution that excluded members of the royal family from certain government positions, established a bicameral parliament, free elections, formation of political parties, and a free press.

Zahir Shah calls that time the “golden age” of Afghanistan. “It would be beautiful if it were possible to revive the atmosphere of those years when I left Kabul. Afghanistan was an Oriental country which was towards westernising. The young generation could study and we had women ministers as well as members of parliament.

“Girls could go to school dressed in western clothes. Some women did cover themselves, but the veils were quite transparent and many of these did not cover the face but were scarves to cover the head. There were small and medium-level enterprises.”

As for the period thereafter, he says: “The continuous fighting has taken away three generations of Afghans. Today, Afghanistan has gone back many centuries in time.

“We have to start rebuilding from scratch all over again.” —Dawn/Gemini News Service.