King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, who has been at the forefront of reforms in the Kingdom and has launched a number of initiatives for peace at global level, has been listed among world's most powerful people by Forbes magazine. US President Barack Obama tops the list. King Abdullah has been recognized as a statesman of international stature, whose unflinching fight against terror and sincere initiative to promote dialogue and peace has won global accolade. The King was the brainchild behind the inter-faith dialogue conferences in Makkah and Madrid and was responsible for the “Peace of Culture” which took place in November 2008 at the United Nations General Assembly. In compiling the inaugural ranking, Forbes said it had narrowed the list to 67 people, “a number based on the conceit that one can reduce the world's 6.7 billion people to the one in every 100 million that matter.” “The goal in compiling this list is to expose power and not glorify it, and over time reveal how influence is as easily lost as it is hard to gain,” the magazine said. World and industry leaders dominated the top 10 of the list, which Forbes said was assessed on the number of people the person influences, their ability to project power beyond their immediate sphere of influence, their control of financial resources and how actively that person wields power. Also on the list were financial heavyweights including Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein (18) and billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett (14), as well as Pope Benedict (11). British Prime Minister Gordon Brown came in at number 29 while Queen Elizabeth failed to make the list. – SG/Agencies The Forbes top 10 1. US President Barack Obama 2. Chinese President Hu Jintao 3. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin 4. US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke 5. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page 6. Carlos Slim, Chief Executive of Mexico's Telmex 7. Rupert Murdoch, chairman of media group News Corp. 8. Michael T. Duke, Chief executive, Wal-Mart Stores 9. King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques 10. Bill Gates, co-chairman, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation __
