 Parade, a weekly magazine, has included President Pervez Musharraf among the "world's 10 worst dictators", a listing it published last year as well.
| Well, that's certainly an authoritative source... |
Parade, which gets distributed with every newspaper delivered to an American home or sold on the street or at a newsstand at weekends, says about the Pakistani leader, "Two years after seizing power in a military coup that overthrew an elected government, Gen Pervez Musharraf appointed himself President of Pakistan. He recently agreed to step down as head of the military, then reversed the decision, claiming that he was best suited to unite Pakistan's contentious political and military elements. 'The country is more important than democracy,' he said. Pakistan has endangered the world by spreading nuclear technology. Last year, it was discovered that Abdul Qadeer Khan, head of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, has been selling nuclear technology to North Korea, Libya and Iran. As for civil liberties in Pakistan, a woman who has been raped may present her case only if she can produce four Muslim men who witnessed the attack."
Others on the list are: Kim Jong Il of North Korea, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Than Shwe of Myanmar, Hu Jintao of China, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Teodoro Obiang Nuguema of Equatorial Guinea.
Two who were on the list last year — Fidel Castro of Cuba and King Mswati III of Swaziland — have failed to "make the grade" this year. President Musharraf was not on the list last year. The No 1 dictator on the list is Kim Jong II. "Dishonourable Mentions" this year include Lexander Lukashenko of Belarus. The Parade list was compiled in consultation with Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders. Parade's contributing editor, David Wallechinsky, who put the list together will soon be publishing a book entitled 'Tyrants: the world's 20 worst living dictators'. 
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