NEW YORK: General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of staff of the Pakistan Army, has been named in a list of 100 most influential people in the world by Time, a leading American magazine.The list also includes international figures like US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Markel and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Among women leaders are: American First Lady Michelle Obama; US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Saudi Arabia's first woman minister Nora al-Faiz; Republican Party's vice presidential candidate in 2008, Sarah Palin; and an Afghan woman activist Surraya Pakzad.The only military leader figuring in the list is Gen. David Mckiernan, commander of the US-led coalition troops in Afghanistan. The annual Time 100 list was published in the latest issue of Time magazine which hit the news-stands on Friday.Also on the list are number professionals in various fields, including the Indian musician, A. R. Rahman. Gen. Kayani, 57, who is placed at No. 19 on the list-- a step ahead of President Obama -- is Admiral Mike Mullen, the top military office' of the United State.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
Comments