Скачать или смотреть Karzai arrives to escort King back to Afghanistan

(16 Apr 2002)

1. Plane landing Rome's Ciampino airport
2. Afghan Interim leader Hamid Karzai walking down steps
3. Italian Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Margherita Boniver and Afghan Ambassador to Italy greeting Karzai
4. Karzai and Boniver inspect troops
5. Cutaway troops
6. Karzai walking
7. Cutaway troops
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hamid Karzai, Afghan Interim leader:
"(It is) a tremendous thing, it is a new Afghanistan that welcomes all its sons including the former king of Afghanistan, a fatherly figure, a symbol of unity, tremendously glad to take him back and very grateful to happy and good again, in Rome - a country that looked after the former king, a country that helped with the loya jirga, a great country."
8. Karzai and delegation walking away

STORYLINE:

Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, arrived in Rome on Tuesday to escort the nation's deposed king back home after nearly three decades of exile in Italy.

The 87-year-old Zaher Shah has lived in Italy since he was ousted in a palace coup by his cousin in 1973.

Karzai described the former king as a father figure and a symbol of unity.

Zaher Shah is scheduled to convene a grand council, or loya jirga, in June that will select a new transitional government for Afghanistan.

He originally was due back last month, but the trip was postponed at the last minute because of reports of possible plots to assassinate him.

Since then, international peacekeepers in Kabul have trained 40 Afghan bodyguards who will form part of his security detail.

A special police unit will coordinate 24-hour protection for the former king, with 50 officers stationed inside a private, gated house where Zaher Shah will live and 100 more taking up positions outside, officials said in Kabul.

Karzai and the former monarch are scheduled to leave Rome late on Wednesday and arrive back in Afghanistan on Thursday.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...