Afghans Thrill, For One Day at Least, at King's Return

April 18 was a very special day in Kabul. It was Thursday, but looked more like a weekend. You couldn't see any cars, with the exception of a few military vehicles. The former King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, was returning home after nearly three decades of exile.

Since 6:30 am, close to 200 journalists and photographers had been gathered at the airport to cover the historic event. General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the Interim Deputy Defense Minister, sat in a VIP area with General Gul Agha Shirzai, who governs the southern region of Kandahar. Near these warlords, who arrived early, invited diplomats and politicians filled the VIP section. Zahir Shah arrived at 11:30 AM from Tashkent, where he had changed planes to enhance the security of his flight from Rome. Two other military airplanes, exactly the same models, escorted his plane.

Hamid Karzai, chairman of the interim government, joined the king for the flight. So did Minister of Reconstruction Amin Farhang, Minster of Civil Aviation and Tourism Zalmai Rassoul, Minster of Planning Haji Mohammed Mohaqeq and Minster of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abdullah Abdullah - a crew of mainly northern Tajiks escorting the Pashtun king. Alongside these four ethnic Tajik ministers, only two of Zahir Shah's sons made the trip.

Visibly absent was Zahir Shah's youngest son, 44-year-old Mir Wais, who had been seen as the closest person to the king in his immediate family. Naturally, for royalist Afghans, the question of succession is of the highest significance. A source close to the king told me that the king changed his mind about bringing Mir Wais to Kabul on the night of April 17. Apparently, the international team facilitating Zahir Shah's trip had agreed that his grandson Mostafa - who nearly always accompanied the king in public appearances in Rome - would be better off not coming to Kabul for now. Because Mostafa had to stay behind, the king evidently didn't want to hurt his feelings by bringing Mir Wais instead.

Mostafa did not have to wait long for an indication of his new status. "Just last night in Rome we had an agreement with the king to appoint Mr. Nasser Zia, our present ambassador in Rome, as a new ambassador in Vienna and for Mustafa to take the job in Rome," Omar Samad, a foreign affairs spokesman, told EurasiaNet.

Another notable absentee was Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim, who had left for Paris on April 17 and sent no delegates. As for the rest of the Karzai Cabinet, Foreign Minister Yunus Qanooni and Sima Samar, the Minister of Women's Affairs, awaited Zahir Shah at the airport. So did Minister of Public Health Suhaila Seddiqi, Minister of Higher Education Mohammed Sharif Faez and three other ministers. According to a source close to Dr. Abdullah, Zalmay Khalilzad, the special envoy of President Bush, was in one of the three planes that landed at the Kabul airport.

When the king's plane appeared, we had been waiting for nearly five hours. No one had left or entered the premises for security reasons. The plane itself landed close to the red carpet that had been spread for it. The door opened and the king stepped out, followed by Karzai and then by family members, bodyguards and Italian officials.

From my vantage point in the VIP section, Zahir Shah was visibly moved and seemed to be actually crying quietly. Chairman Karzai started to introduce people to the king who was evidently too overwhelmed to speak. General Shirzai, the Kandahar governor, was the first individual to kiss the king's hand; a few older people did the same. The reception was very small and a few girls gave the king a big red bouquet. "I talked with king last night in Rome and he told me he was very emotional and he couldn't get to sleep because he had been very frustrated about the last three times that his flight had been cancelled in the last minute," Shirzai told EurasiaNet. "He has promised to visit Kandahar in 10 to 15 days."

Despite the political significance of his arrival, more than one official emphasized the informal nature of the king's return. "We don't have any special ceremony for the king's coming back. He is coming back as a citizen and an ordinary person." This reflects the political tension surrounding Zahir Shah's arrival, which Afghans hope will smooth the path to the June Loya Jirga, or grand elective council, but which could touch off disputes among Pashtuns, Tajiks, other ethnic groups, warlords and royalists. [For more information, see the EurasiaNet Insight archives.] So the interim government took pains to package the king's return as a sweet ceremony rather than a regime change. "We have invited all ambassador who are working in Kabul but we haven't invited any head of state from another country," emphasized an interior ministry official.

After his arrival, International Security Assistance Force soldiers escorted the king to Palace # 8 in central Kabul. On the way there, the king's convoy was protected by heavy security on both sides of the street. Many Afghans had gathered on the sidewalk behind the security lines to see the king and show their emotions. At one corner a group of perhaps 15 men started dancing wildly when they saw the king's car approaching.

The king is staying in the big old residence that was used by a Taliban Minister. Before that it was his son's house. It would be foolhardy to forecast who will occupy the house in ten years. For all the genuine affection that residents showered on Zahir Shah at his return, the 87-year-old faces a stiff challenge if he really hopes to unify Afghanistan's disparate constituencies and give its poor, war-weary residents an abiding sense of hope. "I am free of any emotion. I cannot remember the king," said Said Hammed, a 24-year-old Kabul resident who was not alive when the king's cousin exiled him in a coup. "So, we will see what he can do for peace keeping in Afghanistan - then I could show my emotion about him."