President Pervez Musharraf will join the world's top political and financial leaders at Davos, Switzerland, at one of the largest such gatherings in recent years from January 25 to 29, officials said. Over the course of the five-day meeting, 2,340 participants from 89 countries will convene in Davos, including 15 heads of state or government, 60 cabinet ministers, 23 religious leaders, 13 union leaders and more than 30 heads of non-government organizations. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali will be one of the participants at the event. The conference, which is focused on the global economy this year, will also be attended by the board chairmen or chief executives of Intel, Cisco Systems, Microsoft Corp, Dell, Coca Cola, Google, Citigroup and other major multinational corporations, along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari and Lebanese Prime Minster Fouad Siniora. The World Economic Forum, which sponsors the event that has become a kind of must on the itineraries of many world statesmen and international corporate leaders, said in an announcement that although there is always the chance that some protesters will attempt to slip through the heavy security surrounding Davos, the area's rugged alpine geography gives security forces the advantage.
