“Dictatorial” Rachida Dati, France’s First Muslim Minister, Struggles Amid Whiffs of the Unsavoury

Photo of Rachida Dati courtesy of The Times

TIMESONLINE: Rachida Dati, the Justice Minister who was hailed as a star of the new French Government, is battling to salvage her reputation after only weeks in office. President Sarkozy has rushed to her rescue after four of her most senior aides resigned, and it emerged that her brother is to appear in court today on drug-dealing charges.

Anti-race campaigners also backed Ms Dati, 41, a Muslim and an icon of the “Sarkozy revolution”, yesterday, saying that she was the victim of jealousy among France’s white ruling elite. Unnamed officials had complained in the media that they could not handle the dictatorial character of Ms Dati, the daughter of an Algerian workman and a Moroccan housewife.

Three times in the past five days Mr Sarkozy has given emotional public support to Ms Dati, a former aide, whose appointment was regarded as a master stroke to counter his image as an intolerant rightwinger. No nonwhite had ever held a senior Cabinet post in any government, let alone a woman from the poor ethnic estates. Sarkozy’s star minister flounders (more) By Charles Bremner in Paris

Mark Alexander