GOUVIEUX, France, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam
(Spiritual Leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims today married German-born
Princess Dr. Gabriele zu Leiningen.  The private religious and civil
ceremonies were held at the Aga Khan's French residence, Aiglemont, in the
presence of close family members and twenty leaders of the Ismaili Community
and their wives from around the world.
    The Muslim religious ceremony was conducted by the Rector and the Grand
Mufti of the Paris Mosque.  The subsequent civil ceremony was performed by the
Mayor of Gouvieux, M. Patrice Marchand.  This is the second marriage for both
the Aga Khan and Princess zu Leiningen.
    A reception to celebrate the wedding with the families' numerous guests,
will take place in France in October.

    The Aga Khan

    The Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Ismaili Community was born
in Geneva, on December 13, 1936, son of Prince Aly Khan and Princess Joan Aly
Khan.  He spent his early youth in Nairobi, Kenya.  After attending Le Rosey
School, Switzerland, he graduated with Honours in Islamic History from Harvard
University in 1959.  On July 11, 1957, Prince Karim, then a twenty year old
student at Harvard, succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga
Khan.

    The Ismaili community of some twelve to fifteen million people live in
more than twenty-five countries.  Over the past forty years, the Aga Khan has
developed and expanded the institutions established by his grandfather while
also founding new ones.  Today, the Aga Khan Development Network, one of the
world's largest private sector entities involved in the developing world,
includes the Aga Khan Foundation, which is involved in programmes relating to
health, education and rural development primarily in countries of South and
Central Asia and East and West Africa; the Aga Khan University, the first
private university in Pakistan; the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development
which promotes private sector industrial, tourism and financial activities in
developing countries; and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture which supports
programmes fostering a better understanding of Islamic civilisations.


    Princess Dr. Gabriele zu Leiningen

    Princess Dr. Gabriele zu Leiningen was born in Frankfurt-am-Main on April
1, 1963 from the marriage of Renate Thyssen to Helmut Friedhelm Homey.  The
Princess' mother and her present husband Ernest-Theodor Henne, both successful
industrialists, live primarily in Germany and in Switzerland.  The Princess,
who was educated at Salem School on Lake Constance and at L'Ecole de Roches in
Normandy, studied law in Munich and Cologne and graduated magna cum laude with
a doctorate in International Law in 1990.  She speaks English and French in
addition to German.  Her daughter Theresa (6) from her first marriage to Karl-
Emich Prince zu Leiningen will now live with her mother in Switzerland and
France.
    Princess zu Leiningen is currently a consultant at UNESCO, and the Aga
Khan has requested the Begum to continue, for the time being, her work which
focuses on the promotion of the status of women and gender equality.  Her
interest in Islam arose from her work at UNESCO, and she was also influenced
by the work of the world-renowned German Islamic scholar Dr. Annemarie
Schimmel.  On her conversion to Islam, she and the Aga Khan chose for her the
Muslim name Inaara, derived from the Arabic word "Nur", meaning "light".

    The Aga Khan Family

    The Aga Khan is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him), through his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, the first Imam and his wife
Fatima, the Prophet's daughter.  The hereditary title Aga Khan was conferred
on the 46th Imam, Aga Hassanaly Shah by the Shah of Persia in the 19th
century.
    The Aga Khan has three children from his first marriage to the English
born Princess Salimah: Princess Zahra (28), who married Mr. Mark Boyden in
June 1997, Prince Rahim (27) and Prince Hussain (24), all of whom are pursuing
the family tradition of involvement in international affairs and in the
welfare of Third World countries.
    After graduation in 1994 from Harvard (USA), Princess Zahra assumed
responsibility, in the Aga Khan's Secretariat at Aiglemont, for the co-
ordination of specific social development programmes.  Prince Rahim, graduated
from Brown University (USA) in 1995 and has responsibilities at the
Secretariat in the economic development sector.  Prince Hussain, who graduated
from Williams College (USA) in 1997, has recently joined the Secretariat where
he is involved in the activities of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.  Mr. Mark
Boyden, a graduate of Oxford Brookes University also plays a co-ordinating
role in the social and economic development programmes of the Network.