KABUL - Dignitaries, legislators and family members said goodbye Tuesday to Mohammad Zahir Shah, Afghanistan's last king, during a funeral that began at the presidential palace.
An honour guard carried Zahir Shah's coffin, draped in the Afghan flag, to a viewing stand under the shade of pine trees at the palace grounds before prayers at a mosque and burial next to his wife at a hilltop shrine in Kabul.
Zahir Shah died Monday after a long illness at age 92.
Afghan politicians and family members stood solemnly as a message was read from U.S. President George W. Bush, who called Zahir Shah "a monumental figure in Afghan history'' who "supported the goal of a representative and freely elected government in his homeland.''
President Hamid Karzai, wearing a traditional blue-and-green Afghan robe, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and U.S. Ambassador William Wood were among those attending.
Zahir Shah's death ended the last vestige of Afghanistan's monarchy. His death prompted three days of national mourning for a man still hailed as the "Father of the Nation'' since his return from exile after the 2001 ouster of the Taliban.
He oversaw four decades of relative peace before a 1973 palace coup ousted him and war shattered his country.
Security was increased in the area of Maranjan Hill, the burial site. Kabul's police chief said police were stationed at distant high points where militants could launch rocket strikes.
"The smallest alleyways are stationed with soldiers, and we've put an additional 25 soldiers at Kabul's four (highway) gates,'' said police chief Ismatullah Dauladzai.
Although he was not always effective during his 40-year reign, Zahir Shah is remembered warmly by his conflict-weary countrymen for steering Afghanistan without bloodshed.
Karzai called him a "symbol of national unity'' who brought development and education to the country. The king remained a leader in his final years, but one who didn't seek the power of a throne, he said.
Zahir Shah was proclaimed monarch in 1933 at age 19 within hours of the death of his father, King Muhammad Nadir Shah, who was assassinated in front of him.
