More to the point, Gulen is the reclusive and highly autocratic leader of a global media, business, "interfaith dialogue" and education empire said to be worth many billions and that is run from a compound in the Poconos.

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And he added: "The failure of my initiative does not mean the failure of Tunisia or the failure of the revolution, " in a reference to the popular unrest two years ago that ousted autocratic leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

BBC: Tunisia Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali resigns

He knows that no Palestinian leader, not even one as historic and autocratic as himself, could sign such a deal and escape the wrath of his people.

ECONOMIST: Palestinians and Israel

Its leader, Aslan Abashidze, runs an odd and throughly autocratic mini-state, Ajaria, on the Black Sea border with Turkey.

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The end of Mr Bossi's autocratic reign came amid claims by prosecutors that taxpayers' money allotted to his party had been spent on its leader, his family and his closest associates (none of whom is under investigation, and all of whom deny wrongdoing).

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