Monday, January 30, 2006

I just read an article by Fu'ad Matar in which he offers fawning praise for King `Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Matar was a staunch Nasserist journalist when he worked for An-Nahar in 60s and 70s. He then became a staunch Saddam Husaynist, and Saddam funded his London-based magazine, At-Tadamun. The magazine was a gift for the fawning biography that Matar wrote of Saddam. Saddam was so pleased with the product, that it was released in three languages. After the end of Saddam's media subsidies in 1991, Matar became a Saudi advocate. His journey is quite symbolic of the trajectory of the Lebanese press.