Saudi ban on women driving illegal: Analyst

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A political commentator has slammed a ban on female driving in Saudi Arabia as unfair, saying such restrictions are not legal under the kingdom’s law, Press TV reports. “There is no law against women driving in Saudi Arabia.... These women who defied the ban on driving are not breaking any law. They are breaking a tradition, they are breaking an edict,” Naseer al-Omari, a US-based writer and political analyst, told press TV on Saturday. The analyst further criticized Western states for keeping silent on the injustice practiced by the “medieval” Al Saud regime against women. “It’s a shame that these Western governments do not say a thing about what’s happening to Saudi women - not just when it comes to driving, [but also] when it comes to personal freedom; ability to travel; ability to choose,” Omari noted. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are prohibited from driving. The ban 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 or even flogged. Omari went on to say that Riyadh is not able to challenge Wahhabi fatwas, adding, “The Saudi people have to live with this reality, with this injustice.” On November 29, Saudi regime forces arrested leading campaigner Aziza al-Yousef while driving a car through the capital Riyadh along with her fellow activist Eman al-Nafjan. In October, Amnesty International censured Riyadh for not addressing the “dire human rights situation” in the kingdom.