Saudi Princess Would Let Women Drive

Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees and General Supervisor of Effat College, Saudi Arabia, Princess Lolwah Al Faisal adjusts her headscarf during a session 'Rules for a Global Neighborhood in a Multicultural World' at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday Jan. 25, 2007. The highest-profile princess in Saudi Arabia's ruling royal family said Thursday that if she could change one thing about her country, she would let women drive. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (Michel Euler - AP)

King Faisal first instituted education for Saudi girls, for example, in the 1960s, and some have wondered if he might have pushed for more reform in the conservative, religious kingdom had he lived longer. He was assassinated in 1975 by a disgruntled royal family member.

When the current monarch, King Abdullah, assumed the throne in 2005, expectations were high that he would decisively and quickly lead the country toward more openness. Indeed, for a while, Saudi Arabia made small but striking steps toward reform, such as instances where Saudi female journalists were allowed to interview men.

But the reform pace has slowed, partly because of reported differences within the royal family over the pace and direction of change and partly because of resistance by religious conservatives who fear reform will dilute their strong influence.

The issue of women drivers has been mostly dormant from Saudi public debate in recent years. It flared after the Gulf War in 1991, when a group of prominent Saudi women staged a protest by driving through the capital of Riyadh. But the government cracked down hard, confiscating many of the women's passports and thus preventing them from leaving the country for months afterward.

The debate has occasionally flared in newspapers since but never to such an extent as in 1991. Yet many Saudi women privately view the ban as a main barrier to progress.

Conservatives, however, are vocal in pushing to retain the ban _ saying that allowing women to drive would inevitably lead to their moral corruption, by forcing them to interact with men who are not relatives in places such as gas stations.

Other Gulf countries, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and other Arab countries allow women to drive.

Al-Faisal is a sister of two prominent members of the current government, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal and Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the outgoing Saudi ambassador to the United States.