Zahir Shah leaves Indian hospital

20 Feb, 2004

Afghanistan's former king Mohammad Zahir Shah, who was flown to New Delhi for treatment of intestinal problems earlier this month, was discharged on Thursday, his grandson told AFP.
Nadir Naeem said his 89-year-old grandfather was delighted to be out of hospital but added that he would stay in the Indian national capital for at least a week.
"He was very pleased to be out of hospital and he thanked the doctors who took care of him," Naeem said after Zahir Shah left New Delhi's main hospital
"Doctors would be visiting him and we right now are in the hands of the doctors and they will advise when he is fit to travel. At this moment the plan is that we stay here," he said.
The ex-monarch was hospitalised on February 4.
The former monarch returned to Afghanistan in April 2002 after three decades in exile.
Known as the Father of the Nation, Zahir Shah has played a symbolic but unofficial role in the transition from the Taleban regime to the US-backed administration of President Hamid Karzai.
Zahir Shah, who was ousted in a 1973 coup, still commands enormous popularity especially among urban Afghans, who remember his rule as a rare era of peace and prosperity in a country that has been torn by wars since 1979.
The former king, who has lived at Kabul's presidential palace, became a widower shortly after arriving back in his homeland from exile in Rome.

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