Kuwaiti woman arrested for driving in Saudi Arabia
16 Nov MAT News
A Kuwaiti woman was arrested in Saudi Arabia for trying to drive her
father to hospital, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Sunday, a week after
Saudi women protested against a ban on female drivers. Kuwaiti women are
free to drive in their country and enjoy far more rights than those in
Saudi Arabia, who are not allowed to travel abroad, open a bank account
or work without permission from a male relative.
The English language Kuwait Times said the woman was driving in an
area just over the border, with her father in the passenger seat, when
she was stopped by police. Kuwaitis and Saudi locals regularly cross the
border and communities living along the frontier are often a mix of
people from both countries.The woman, who said her diabetic father could
not drive and needed to be taken to hospital for treatment, is being
held in custody pending an investigation, the paper said, citing
police.The paper did not suggest that the woman was protesting Saudi
Arabia's ban on female drivers.
Saudi police in the border town al-Khafji referred calls to the local
traffic police, who could not be reached for comment. Officials in the
Kuwaiti Interior Ministry said they could not comment on reports of
incidents outside Kuwait. Kuwaiti women gained the right to vote and
stand for political office in 2005 after years of campaigning and a push
by senior ruling family members. Conservative members of the Kuwaiti
parliament, including some who draw on Saudi Arabia's austere
interpretation of Islam, had previously blocked the reforms, saying that
Islamic law prevented women from leadership positions.
In Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah has pushed some cautious reforms to
give women more employment opportunities and a greater public voice, but
has often faced resistance from senior clergy.
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