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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Mohammad Zahir Shah

Aired March 16, 2002 - 07:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The former king of Afghanistan is preparing to go back to his homeland for the first time in nearly 30 years. King Mohammad Zahir Shah granted our Christiane Amanpour a rare television interview about his hopes and his plans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Your Majesty, it's been nearly 30 years that you have been away from Afghanistan, and that you have been reluctant, it seems, to go back and to lead. Are you eager to go back right now?

MOHAMMAD ZAHIR SHAH, FORMER AFGHAN KING (through translator): You can very well imagine when someone is out of his homeland for 30 years what the feeling would be to once again return to that secret soil. I go back with eagerness. I go back with happiness and joy.

But also I have sadness in my heart, because on the one hand, I am very glad to see once again my people and my homeland. On the other hand, I know the changes that have take place, the mayhem and the destruction, and that makes it sad.

AMANPOUR: When I was in Kabul, everybody remembered your time and your rule as the golden age. Even the young people said, "We want the king to come back, because for 40 years we had peace. He brought a constitution. Women had rights. Women could vote." But today, Afghanistan is torn by warlordism, by tribal differences. How is it going to be possible to govern Afghanistan today?

SHAH: I, myself, am a democrat. I was brought up in a democratic society, and it was natural for me to pursue and follow that path to bring democracy to Afghanistan and to respect the free will of the Afghan people. I don't think that the country can govern itself well without the participation and the free will of the people of that land, and therefore, democracy is essential to society.

AMANPOUR: The Afghan people tell us that even before there can be a democracy or any kind of government, there has to be security, safety. Many people in Afghanistan now are asking for international peacekeepers to go to the different cities and to keep the peace there. Do you agree that there should be more international peacekeepers in Afghanistan today to establish security?

SHAH: As a rule, I would not support foreign troops on Afghan soil, but these are exceptional times, and it needs exceptional solutions. I believe that the international force is welcomed by the majority of the Afghan people. Wherever they go, they have been cheered and so on, and I do believe that they have a very important task to fulfill to bring security and stability to Afghanistan. Therefore their involvement, I believe, is important, and also it's important that they spread out of Kabul into other cities.

AMANPOUR: How do you feel emotionally as you prepare to go back to your home after nearly 30 years?

SHAH: I keep on counting the hours and the minutes to go back to my homeland from which I have been far away for 30 years. I want to spend the last remaining years -- the few years that I have left in front of me at the service of my people and my country.

AMANPOUR: You saw your own father assassinated in front of your eyes. Are you afraid when you think about going back home?

SHAH: Not at all. Not at all. As a person of faith and as a Muslim, I believe certain things will happen in life that cannot be averted, but I am not afraid for my safety. Whatever sacrifice I will have to make, whatever the odds there are, I am ready to serve my people and my country.

AMANPOUR: And finally, sir, can you explain why it is that now, near the end of your life, you want to go back home and serve your people, and that you have never gone back or thought about going back in the last 30 years?

SHAH: It was always my desire to return back to my country. Now, the international climate has changed. I think new avenues have opened. In the past, I was afraid that if I went back, it could have caused more bloodshed. But now, I do know that the majority of the people are happy with my return back to Afghanistan, as well as the support of the international community behind me.

I never wanted to impose myself on the Afghan people. I awaited them to give the signal that they are ready to accept me to go back, and I am ready to go back. And as I indicated before, the last few years of my life, I would like to dedicate that to the people of Afghanistan and to my country to bring peace, stability and prosperity to the country.

AMANPOUR: Your Majesty, thank you very much indeed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Christiane Amanpour with the former king of Afghanistan.

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