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e before press 4. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Hamid Karzai, Afghan President: "Mohammad Zahir Shah, the father of the nation of Afghanistan today passed away, this morning at 0545 local time (0115 GMT). He left this world and has joined another world." 5. Wide of Karzai addressing media 6. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Hamid Karzai, Afghan President: "He was the servant of his people, the friend of his people, he was a very kind person, kind hearted. He believed in the rule of the people and in human rights." 7. Cutaway cameraman 8. Wide of Karzai leaving the media followed by government officials STORYLINE: Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a public announcement in Kabul on Monday of the death of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan who returned from three decades of exile to bless his war-battered country's fragile course toward democracy. Zahir Shah was 92. Seen as weak but well-meaning during his 40-year reign, Zahir Shah became a symbol of yearned-for peace and unity in a nation still struggling to emerge from the turmoil that began with his 1973 ouster in a palace coup. "He was the servant of his people, the friend of his people, he was a very kind person, kind hearted. He believed in the rule of the people and in human rights", Karzai said. When the fall of the Taliban at the end of 2001 offered fresh hope for national reconciliation, many clamoured for Zahir Shah's return, not only from exile but to retake the throne. Zahir Shah returned home from Italy in April 2002, but stood aside in favour of a young anti-Taliban tribesman, the now-President Karzai. A new constitution passed in January 2004 consigned the monarchy to history with Zahir Shah named the ceremonial "Father of the Nation", a position that will dissolve with his death. Since returning to Afghanistan, Zahir Shah left the country several times for medical treatment. Born October 15, 1914, Zahir Shah was proclaimed monarch within hours of the death of his father, King Mohammad Zahir Shah who was assassinated before his eyes. Zahir Shah was only 19. He was not a dynamic ruler, with uncles and cousins holding the real power during most of Zahir Shah's reign, during which Afghanistan remained poor and forgotten. But his neutral foreign policy and limited liberalisation of a deeply conservative society managed to keep the peace, a golden age in the eyes of many Afghans pained by the extremism and slaughter that followed. Karzai announced three days of mourning over the death of the king, whose body will lie in state at a mosque in Kabul then will be taken by carriage to a hillside tomb. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/032028d60b053bc5d90f5284aad8b2eb