Saudi police have arrested a Kuwaiti woman for driving a car while taking her diabetic father to the hospital.TheKuwait Timesquoted a Saudi police source as saying on Sunday that the woman was driving in an area near the border with Kuwait, with her father in the passenger seat, when she was stopped by police.
The woman is now being held in custody pending an investigation.
There are close ties between Kuwaitis and Saudis in the area, with people from both countries crossing the border on a regular basis.
Unlike Saudi women, who are not allowed to drive cars, travel abroad, open a bank account, or work without permission from a male relative, Kuwaiti females are free to drive in their country and enjoy more rights than those in Saudi Arabia.
The arrest comes just a week after Saudi women protested against the driving ban in Saudi Arabia. Over a dozen female drivers were stopped by police.
The Saudi women, who had originally planned a drive-in on October 26, canceled it after Saudi authorities threatened many of them with legal action. However, they announced an open driving campaign.
Several women said they had received threatening telephone calls from the Saudi Interior Ministry asking them not to drive on the day.
On October 24, Amnesty International urged Saudi Arabia to respect the right of women to drive.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are prohibited from driving. The medieval ban is not stated by law but is a religious fatwa by the countrys Wahhabi clerics and enforced by regime forces. If women get behind the wheel in the kingdom, they may be arrested, sent to court and even flogged.
By Press TV
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