‘A New Hope’ of Saudi Arabia: The MSM Tradition of Praising Incoming Saudi Kings

Saudi crown-prince Mohammed bin Salman is making the headlines across media - being described as a 'revolutionary' politician and a 'new hope" for Saudi Arabia. He's even leading the race to top Time magazine's 'Person Of The Year' reader's poll. Murad Gazdiev now profiles the man behind Saudi Arabia's rapidly-shifting sands.

Rachida Dati violemment critiquée par son frère
Jamal Dati, au moment de son procès pour trafic de stupéfiants. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Dans le livre «A l'ombre de Rachida» [sic], Jamal, le frère cadet de l'ancienne ministre de la Justice, décrit sa soeur comme autoritaire, froide et égocentrique.

«Pourquoi tout ce cinéma ?» Dans son livre «A l'ombre de Rachida» [sic], à paraître le 7 octobre chez Calmann-Lévy, le frère cadet de Rachida Dati n'est pas tendre avec l'ancienne garde des Sceaux, révèle mercredi le Nouvel Observateur, qui publie un extrait de l'ouvrage. On apprend notamment que le jour de sa sortie de la maternité avec la petite Zohra, -photo publiée dans tous les journaux-, c'est un couffin vide que tenait en réalité la ministre. «En fait, ils ont fait sortir le nourrisson sans Rachida, en catimini, pour éviter la presse», explique-t-il. «C'est pourquoi on voit ma nièce, Sânnaa, pouffer sur les photos à la sortie de la maternité : l'entourage fait semblant de regarder pendant que les journalistes mitraillent la nouvelle maman», rapporte son frère, tout en s'interrogeant sur le bien-fondé d'une telle supercherie. >>> F.G. (lefigaro.fr) | Mercredi 30 Septembre 2009

Dans l’ombre de Rachida >>> de Jamal Dati – Bientôt disponible

Charles Bremner: Brother Takes Axe to Rachida Dati
TIMES ONLINE – BLOGS: You remember this picture of Rachida Dati, the former star of the Sarkozy government, leaving the clinic with her new-born baby in her arms ? Her immediate return to work as Justice Minister earned her headlines around the world. We hear today that she wasn't holding Zohra, her daughter, just an empty baby-carrier swathed in a blanket.

This is related in a book out this week by Jamal Dati, the younger brother of the ambitious and difficult Sarkozy protegée who was cast out of the government last June and exiled to the European parliament. Scraps of A [Dans] l'Ombre de Rachida [in Rachida's Shadow] appear in le Parisien today. They make clear that Jamal, who recently spent a few months in prison for drug dealing, is out to settle accounts with the sister whose Cinderella life story was meant to inspire France's immigrant working class.

Dati, one of 12 children of a Moroccan-Algerian couple, is depicted as hard-hearted and ruthless. Those qualities are usually mentioned by those who have fallen out with the woman who is seen by the establishment as a pushy parvenue. Dati refused to have anything to do with her black sheep brother when she was minister, he says. "Every time I tried to talk to her she turned a deaf ear." He accuses his sister of having him locked up because he was a nuisance. He gave a bracelet to Zohra, he says. "She did not even thank me. She just said 'put it down there'. She did not want to take the gift in here hands. That hurt me."

The stunt on leaving the hospital last January was part of Dati's meticulous management of her image, he says. The child was taken away through a side entrance and then cared for by Dati's sister for months, says the brother. Comment here >>> Charles Bremner | Wednesday, September 30, 2009