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Body of Afghan leader identified

The discovery was made by members of a government-appointed commission during excavation at a military base outside the capital, Kabul.

Daud Khan overthrew the last king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, in 1973.

His death five years later ushered in a decade of Soviet occupation followed by the rise of the Taleban.

The former president is to be given a special funeral ceremony by the government.

Teeth moulds

A spokesman for the Ministry of Health told the Associated Press news agency that the former president's body was among dozens discovered at two mass graves in the Pul-e-Charkhi area, east of Kabul, six months ago.

The spokesman said that Mr Khan and 17 family members and associates were executed inside the presidential palace in Kabul during a communist-inspired coup in 1978.

He said that teeth moulds were used to identify the late president's body but the determining factor was a small golden Koran that was found with his remains.

Read entire article at BBC