Saudi forces arrest female driver in Riyadh

Saudi forces have arrested a young woman in the capital, Riyadh, for driving after her car crashed, local sources reported. According to Qatif news agency, the driver was a university student and she was accompanied by two other women at the time of the accident. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are prohibited from driving. The ban is not enforced by law but is a religious fatwa imposed by the country's Wahhabi clerics. If women get behind the wheel in the kingdom, they may be arrested, sent to court and even flogged. In 2011, a Saudi woman was jailed after she posted a video of herself driving in the Saudi city of Khobar on YouTube. Saudi women have mounted several campaigns to try and overturn the ban in recent years. In June 2012, hundreds of Saudi women petitioned the Kingdom’s ruler King Abdullah to reconsider the ban on women driving and allow them to get behind the wheel. "We only want to enjoy the right to drive like all women all over the world," said the petition. They also called on King Abdullah to "establish driving schools for women and (begin) issuing licenses," saying that 5,000 Saudi women have applied for driving licenses in 2012.