'People are waiting for him' / Exiled Afghan monarch seen as uniter of Taliban's foes - Monday, October 1, 2001

Afghanistan Mohammad Zahir Shah, left, gestures to his grandson Mostapha, right, as his son Mirwais, behind the king, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, look on during a meeting at the King's residence in Olgiata, in the outskirts of Rome, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2001. The former king told a U.S. congressional delegation Sunday that he was by America's side in the fight against terrorism and would back a U.S.-led liberation force to oust the hard-line Taliban. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

2001-10-01 04:00:00 PDT Rome -- The 86-year-old exiled king of Afghanistan, who has spent decades in virtual isolation here, met with military commanders of the rebel Northern Alliance and a U.S. congressional delegation yesterday at his home, where the Americans promised to help him unite his countrymen against the radical Islamic Taliban government.

"We think that perhaps he is the person that can rally those against the Taliban most effectively," Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., said after the meeting, at King Mohammad Zahir Shah's heavily guarded villa outside Rome.

The king's youngest son and closest aide, Prince Mir Wais Zahir, 40, said his father, who has lived in Rome since he was deposed in a Soviet-backed coup in 1973, had made up his mind to go back despite his age. - Read More

People are waiting for him' / Exiled Afghan monarch seen as uniter of ...