King May Return if That Spurs Peace, Afghan Says

The Soviet-backed government of Afghanistan is ready to accept the return of former King Mohammed Zahir Shah if it would help restore peace in the country, an Afghan government minister said Saturday.

But the Kabul regime has had no contacts with the deposed monarch, who lives in Italy, and has not held deliberations on his possible return, Nationalities and Tribal Affairs Minister Suleiman Laeq told a news conference.

“If there is any advantage for a peaceful settlement through his (the king’s) return to Afghanistan, we will not spare any effort to accept him,” Laeq said.

But he added: “The authorities of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan so far have had no contacts or direct links with the deposed king . . . .

Laeq, a member of the Politburo of the ruling Communist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, said Kabul had decided to extend for a further six months its unilateral cease-fire due to expire on July 15.

Extraordinary Session

“About a week ago an extraordinary session of the national reconciliation commission was convened, and it decided that another six months’ cease-fire should be proclaimed,” he said.

He said he hoped to meet Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in New Delhi to deliver a message from Afghan Communist leader Najib. Laeq is here heading a high-ranking delegation to visit Abdul Gaffar Khan, an ailing Pakistani opposition politician.

Khan, 97, known as the “Frontier Gandhi” for his association with Indian independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, is highly respected in Afghanistan, where he has called for peace between the government and Western-backed guerrillas.

Speaking to reporters after the news conference, Laeq appeared to indicate that Kabul is not optimistic about a role for the former king in an Afghan settlement.

“If the deposed king was popular in our country, he would not be living in exile. When he left (in 1973), nobody resisted for him,” Laeq said.

‘We Would Have Done It’

“If we were convinced that by putting the crown again on the head of the king everything would be OK, we would have done it.”

However, the government was ready to accept “monarchist elements and groups from inside or outside the country” in its national reconciliation drive to unite Afghan political groups and woo back exiles.

Najib said last month he was ready for contacts with supporters of the former king to promote a peace settlement, but the king’s aides in Rome said he would not share power with the Moscow-backed leader.

Last May, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev hinted in an interview with the Italian Communist Party newspaper L’Unita that the Kremlin would accept return of the king in a coalition government after the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

The king assumed the throne in 1933 and maintained a policy of neutrality. He was deposed in a bloodless coup led by his brother-in-law, Mohammed Daoud, while the king was in Italy. Daoud was killed in a coup in 1978.