ninme

Now (assuming this guy is right) we’re all screwed.

Times Online - Last king of Afghanistan dies, aged 92

Mohammed Zahir Shah, who as the last king of Afghanistan led his country through 40 years of stability before watching it unravel from exile, has died at the age of 92.

Zahir Shah died in his bed early this morning in his residence in Kabul, where he had spent the final years of his life as an ordinary citizen. He had been ill for some time.

His death was announced by President Hamid Karzai, his fellow Pashtun clansman, who declared three days of mourning for his passing. “I want to inform all my compatriots that his majesty, the Father of the Nation, Mohammed Zahir Shah, passed away today at 5:45 am,” he said.

Tim Albone, Times correspondent in Kabul, said that flags were flying at half mast in the Afghan capital. “There’s no huge outpouring but there is a definite sense of grief at his death. He was seen as the father of the nation, a man who ruled Afghanistan in the last peaceful era of its history.”

Who knows. He’s got sons. And even if he didn’t, France figured something out…