Who's first on Osama bin Laden's hit list? And who has the most dangerous job in the world? Not George W. Bush but Pervez Musharraf, according to Pakistan's president himself.
Today, as he celebrates five years in power, General Musharraf grabs any opportunity to publicise his own role in the United States war on terror - a role that has won him powerful friends such as Mr Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and implacable enemies like al-Qaeda and the Taleban, who have apparently tried three times to kill him.
The military dictator's much-ballyhooed anti-terror role has turned him into a global celebrity. On the fifth anniversary of his rule, they say General Musharraf can rightfully claim he is one of the most high-profile leaders in Asia - and the world.
The 58-year-old general dethroned democratically elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif on October 12, 1999, without firing a shot. And two years later, he promoted himself to the presidency. But analysts say he would have remained an international pariah had it not been for the September 11 attacks on the US.
'The 9/11 strikes came as a godsend, or perhaps Allahsend, for Musharraf,' said a western diplomat who has watched the general's transformation into a world figure who commands attention in international capitals.
'He seized the opportunity with both hands and played his cards so well that his importance is not going to diminish at all in the foreseeable future.