Fade
03-17-2009, 12:57 PM
30 years later, executed Afghan president reburied
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL - Executed in a coup 30 years ago, buried hastily in a mass grave along with a small golden Qur'an, the man who turned Afghanistan from a monarchy into a republic returned Tuesday in a flag-draped coffin to the same palace where he met his death.
The body of president Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan was unearthed after a former Afghan general involved in the secret burial pointed the way last year to two mass graves. In July 2008, graves were opened that held the bodies of the former leader and 17 family members and associates killed with him.
Daud Khan, whose shooting death ushered in an era of Soviet domination over the country that lasted for a decade, was identified by teeth moulds - but the key was the Qur'an, a gift from a Saudi king found along with the body in July 2008.Article continued at http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/03/17/8782101-ap.html
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL - Executed in a coup 30 years ago, buried hastily in a mass grave along with a small golden Qur'an, the man who turned Afghanistan from a monarchy into a republic returned Tuesday in a flag-draped coffin to the same palace where he met his death.
The body of president Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan was unearthed after a former Afghan general involved in the secret burial pointed the way last year to two mass graves. In July 2008, graves were opened that held the bodies of the former leader and 17 family members and associates killed with him.
Daud Khan, whose shooting death ushered in an era of Soviet domination over the country that lasted for a decade, was identified by teeth moulds - but the key was the Qur'an, a gift from a Saudi king found along with the body in July 2008.Article continued at http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/03/17/8782101-ap.html