A homecoming fit for a king?

Even within the interim government, there is serious friction over the king's return. Though Hamid Karzai, the temporary leader, is a Pashtun – a member of the country's largest ethnic group that remains the most loyal to the king – his government is dominated by senior members of the Northern Alliance.

"The Northern Alliance and the warlords who are in control, they want to hold on to a person like Karzai, who will act according to their demands. If the king comes here and does as he wants and uses his influence, they will not be happy," Mr. Jala says.

Added to the layers of Lear-like intrigue surrounding the once and future king's return are neighboring countries that – at least in the eyes of the Afghans – are not enthusiastic about Zahir Shah's homecoming.

Foremost among these is Iran, which faces the prospect of its own pro-royalists gleaning encouragement from Afghanistan and pushing for the return of the exiled son of the last shah of Iran.

A close second is Pakistan, which stands to lose its position as chief mediator between Afghanistan and the West if Kabul is able to establish a strong central government.

The king, who served for 40 years until his cousin replaced him, never had good relations with Pakistan. This is in part because he did not recognize the Durand Line, the British-drawn border that separated Afghanistan from India – and later became the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The border left Pashtuns on both sides of the border, and according to the king's interpretation, expired in 1993, 100 years after it was demarcated.

Closer to home, rival forces in provinces such as Khost and Paktia are fighting each other along the royal fault line. In Kabul, Northern Alliance-affiliated politicians say the king's return represents a grasp toward the past, but none wants to be quoted as outright opposing what promises to be an emotional national homecoming.

And no one here seems to know what it will mean to have a king at the helm. Some say he can and must rule, others say he will defer to advisers and democratic-minded institutions, such as the loya jirga, or national council. The opponents of royal-family rule, however, fear that the king's supporters will gain a majority on the loya jirga and dominate national affairs.

Political scientists at the best university in the country say that they do not know whether their king will actually rule, such as in Saudi Arabia, or be more of a symbolic head of state, as in England. "He hasn't announced his political agenda," Jalal says.

Zaia Mojadedi, a member of the king's court, dismisses some of the criticism surrounding Zahir Shah's return, as well as the doubts surrounding his ability to rule.

"I met the king one month ago," says Mr. Mojadedi. "He was looking forward to getting rid of this ethnic hatred created by all the foreign interference in Afghanistan, from the Pakistanis, Russians, and Iranians."

Page: 1 | 2