Leka Zogu, a king's son

TIRANA, ALBANIA

- Leka Zogu, whose father served as king of Albania until it was occupied by fascist Italy, and who twice returned home from exile to try to claim the throne himself, died yesterday, his family said. He was 72.

Zogu's father, King Ahmet Zog, was this small Balkan country's first and only post-independence monarch, reigning from 1928 to 1939, when he fled after Albania was occupied by Italian forces.

The king died in France in 1961 and is buried at the Thiais Cemetery near Paris.

Born just two days before Albania was occupied in 1939, Zogu spent most of his life in exile in Europe and Africa while his country was ruled by Communists.

After Albania's Communist regime fell in 1990, Zogu made two disastrous attempts to return home - being thrown out during the first in 1993 and charged with leading an armed uprising during the second in 1997.

The 6-foot-5-inch Zogu finally settled in Albania in 2002, never relinquishing his claim to the throne. The royal family's official website listed his interests as "arms, shooting, reading and history."

Zogu was the only son of King Ahmet Zog, a Muslim chieftain who proclaimed himself Albania's monarch in 1928 and ruled for 11 years during a time that many older Albanians now remember as prosperous and stable.

In 2002 Zogu's family was given back some of its old royal properties and granted diplomatic passports. Zogu's son, also named Leka, has since served as an adviser to several Albanian governments.

Today, a small royalist party is allied to the governing Democratic Party's coalition of Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.

Zogu was educated in Egypt, Switzerland and France and graduated from the military academy of Sandhurst, England. He studied economics and political science at the Sorbonne, France, and spoke English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Portuguese and Italian.

Zogu is survived by his son.