Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is the most powerful person in the Arab and Muslim world, according to the 2012 ranking of the World's Most Powerful People by Forbes magazine.
He also ranks seventh among the top 10 most powerful people in the world, according to Forbes' latest list.
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan also featured 33rd on the list, which included 71 personalities in total.
The only other representative from the GCC was Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi, who was placed in the 32nd position. US President Barack Obama topped the Forbes list for a second consecutive year.
The annual list selected what Forbes said were the world's 71 most-powerful people from among the roughly 7.1 billion global populace, based on factors ranging from wealth to global influence. Obama was joined in the top 10 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
To create the rankings, which Forbes readily concedes bore a measure of subjectivity, editors graded candidates on four criteria for power and averaged the four grades:
— Power over many people.
— Control over financial and other valuable resources.
— Power in multiple spheres or arenas.
— Active use of power.
Arab News
7 December
