U.S.- Afghan king was weak leader

WASHINGTON -- Declassified U.S. documents from his last years as king of Afghan-istan portray Mohammad Zaher Shah as an aloof leader reigning over a nation with declining morale and a feeling of hopelessness.

Still, the grandfatherly figure who ruled Afghanistan for four decades now is viewed by many as a symbol of unity for a nation fractured by war and ethnic power struggles.

The 87-year-old former king plans to send a delegation to U.N.-brokered power-sharing talks in Germany next week on Afghanistan's post-Taliban leadership. And the United States and its coalition partners in the war on terrorism hope that Zaher Shah could assume a leadership role, at least as a symbolic figure in a future Afghan government.

Zaher Shah ruled for 40 years before being ousted in a 1973 coup. He now lives in Rome and says he does not want to return to the throne, but hopes to unite the Afghan people and help them establish a representative government.