Faithful embassy caretaker loses battle with cancer

Independent:

When British soldiers turned up at the embassy in Kabul following the fall of the Taliban, their path was blocked by an elderly Afghan gentleman.

For 12 years, Zahoor Shah had tended the roses in the compound, hidden away the silver and barred fighters from entering. It took the British some hours before they could persuade him that the rightful owners had finally returned. By the time the new Charge d'Affaires Stephen Evans and his staff turned up the following day, Mr Shah was properly attired to welcome them.

"I arrived on the afternoon of 19 November 2001. We came down the curving drive and pulled up at the entrance of the embassy. Mr Shah was at the top of the stairs, wearing his white coat with gold buttons and black trousers to greet us," said Mr Evans.

He had found heating oil and the old grand table was set for dinner with the ambassadorial china, silver and crystal glasses. "From somewhere he had found a couple of bottles of wine and there were candles on the table," explained Mr Evans.

Yesterday the current British ambassador Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles paid tribute to Mr Shah after news that he had lost his battle with throat cancer. "We owe him an enormous debt for the loyalty and resilience he showed during the years of Taliban rule," he said.

Nobody was entirely sure how old he was, though it is believed he had started life at the embassy as an eight- or nine-year-old ball-boy in the forties.

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After the Soviet invasion, the mission was left with only a Charge d'Affaires and by 1989 the last diplomat had gone. Mr Shah and his team of six staff hid away the portraits of Queen Mary and King George VI, the gilded Wilton china service, the silver teapots and monogrammed tureens.

They stood guard through the fiercest fighting, despite one of the staff being killed by a rocket in 1996, and slept in the gatehouse to repel intruders. The gatekeeper Sayed Afzal once kept a Taliban delegation at bay, informing them there was nothing left but "a few old tables and chairs".

The British High Commission in Islamabad called regularly to make sure they were alright, while the odd intrepid visitor would drop by. Money for the upkeep was passed through the UN offices until the embassy reopened in November 2001.

Nine months later, Mr Shah, along with Mr Afzal, was presented with a MBE for devotion to duty through so many years of conflict. At a traditional tea party on the lawn, to the sound of Highland piper, the men were honoured.

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This is a remarkable story of loyalty and devotion to duty. It is not an alien character for many Afghans. It is certainly one to be sought after and nurtured.