K.A paul meets Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Minutes later, I receive a phone call from GPI’s founder, Dr. Kilari Anand (K.A.) Paul, a man who has been described as “the world’s most popular evangelist” by The New Republic and “the next Billy Graham” by the New York Times. He has also been referred to as a “modern-day Gandhi.” Indeed, Paul tells me, the seemingly deserted building is GPI’s office. Quite the humble environs for a man who says his charity and peace work has reached 148 countries, hundreds of thousands of orphans and widows in need, and the millions of people who have attended his peace rallies. Global media have reported on how he convinced Liberian dictator Charles Taylor to resign and persuaded Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe to lay down his arms. Also in Paul’s travel log: meetings with late Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.