Boxing legend Muhammad Ali arrived in Kabul today as a messenger of peace from the U.N Children's Fund and the World Food Programme to draw global attention to war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Ali, dressed in a black suit, disembarked from a U.N. plane at the airport in the Afghan capital under the tight security of Afghan and foreign security forces.
"He is seeking to focus greater international attention on the ongoing needs of Afghanistan," the United Nations said in a statement about his two-day visit.
Ali met President Hamid Karzai at the heavily-fortified presidential palace soon after his arrival and was due to meet representatives of international donors to Afghanistan.
"You have the strength in you still...I wish you could stay forever with us. Afghanistan would have been delighted to have you here, to have the champion of the century here," Karzai told Ali, who is also due to visit a girls school and a bakery run by women, as well as a sports club for young athletes.
The U.N. statement said Ali, a three-time world heavyweight champ, had been a leading figure in humanitarian affairs for many years with a particular interest in the welfare of children and vulnerable communities. Ali's trip to Afghanistan, devastated by 23 years of occupation and internecine war, is his first. International donors last year pledged to provide some $4.5 billion for rebuilding the country in five years.
Ali, 60, is regarded by many as the "Father of Boxing" for his long success in the game. Ali's portraits hang in many boxing clubs in the country.
"I would die to see him. I wish I could. He is the best boxer," one Afghan athlete said after he was unable to see Ali on his arrival, kept deliberately low-key for security reasons. Ali won an unprecedented three world heavyweight titles.
He last won the "richest prize in sports" 14 years after first taking it from Sonny Liston in 1964. In 1982, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disorder.