Minister shields baby from French media

By John Lichfield in Paris

Monday, 5 January 2009

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The French justice minister, Rachida Dati, who gave birth to a two weeks' premature baby daughter at the weekend, plans to refuse all requests for a mother and child photo-opportunity.

The unmarried Mme Dati, 43, has steadfastly refused to reveal the identity of the child's father, leading to feverish speculation about his identity. The justice minister's emergence as a media personality has irritated her mentor, President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has asked his press service to work on Mme Dati's "de-celebritisation".

The birth of Mme Dati's daughter - Zohra - is likely to frustrate the Elysee's efforts and set off a new round of speculation about the name of the father. The web-site of the people magazine Gala greeted the birth with the first line of France's most popular Christmas carol: "Il est n� le divin enfant. (the divine child is born)".

Unlike the last French minister to give birth in office - S�golène Royal in 1992 - Mme Dati has let it be known that she will refuse all requests for TV footage or press photographs. Both she and her daughter were said to yesterday to be doing well.

Mme Dati, who has been a deeply controversial justice minister, plans to return to work by the end of the week. Her office said that she was following developments in her ministry from her bed in a clinic in the Paris area.

One of 12 children of a poor Moroccan-Algerian immigrant family, Mme Dati was a little known member of M. Sarkozy's entourage before he catapulted her into the limelight, first as a spokeswoman for his presidential campaign and then as justice minister. Her good looks and taste for luxury had already made her a favourite with glossy celebrity magazines before she announced in September that she was pregnant.

Mme Dati's brief political career has been less glittering. Her sometimes clumsy efforts to push through court and prison reforms have infuriated lawyers, judges and prison officers.