The former King of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, has died at the age of 92 following a long illness. President Hamid Karzai announced three days of mourning. He said Zahir Shah had been a symbol of national unity. Zahir Shah was deposed in 1973 and went into exile. He returned to Afghanistan in 2002 after the fall of the Taleban but was given no official role. He was popular among Afghans and his reign is remembered as a time of peace before Soviet invasion and war. Zahir Shah died at his Kabul residence in the presidential palace compound. His body is lying in state at a Kabul mosque and all television and radio stations are reciting Koranic verses. The funeral will be held on Tuesday when prayer ceremonies will take place across Afghanistan. "With paramount grief, I would like to inform my countrymen that... Mohammad Zahir Shah has bid farewell to this mortal world," President Karzai said. "We announce three days of national mourning over the death of the father of the nation, and the Afghan flag will be at half mast for three days."