President Karzai announced the death of His Majesty during a news conference at the Presidential Palace and said, “With much grief, I inform my dear citizens that his majesty Mohammad Zahir Shah, Father of the Nation died at 5:45 this morning. May his soul rest in Paradise.”

The President noted that His Majesty served as king for forty years in Afghanistan. He was a kind person who believed in freedom, democracy and human rights.

“His Majesty was a great leader who moved his country forward with an excellent and compassionate leadership. He shared sorrow and joy of the people. He loved freedom and his culture. He was a symbol of national unity and worked for the prosperity and development of the Afghan nation. He protected Afghanistan during the then difficult times and promoted education.”

Expressing condolences to the nation, the President hoped for prosperity and development in Afghanistan, a wish His Majesty always had and said,” His Majesty in his period of office always struggled for progress and when in exile, did his utmost for the success of the Afghan Jihad and his country’s independence.

The President noted that Mohammad Zaher Shah was the founder of democracy in Afghanistan’s history known as “Decade of Democracy”.