Goes along with what we learned about Pakistan

Saudi women seek right to drive

September 18, 2007

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- Women in the only country that bans female drivers have formed a committee to lobby for the right to get behind the wheel, and they plan to petition King Abdullah on Sunday for the privilege.

The government is unlikely to respond because the issue remains so highly sensitive and divisive. But committee members say their petition will at least highlight what many Saudis -- both men and women -- consider a ''stolen'' right.

''We would like to remind officials that this is, as many have said, a social and not a religious or political issue,'' said Fowziyyah al-Oyouni, a founding member of the Committee of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive Cars.

The driving ban applies to all women, Saudi and foreign, and forces families to hire live-in drivers. Women whose families cannot afford $300 to $400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them. AP