Saudi authorities have arrested a female activist who launched a campaign to challenge a ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom and posted a video on the internet of her driving.
Manal al-Sharif Photo: YOU TUBE
Manal al-Sharif, who learnt to drive in the US, was arrested one day after she posted footage on the video-sharing website YouTube showing her driving in the Eastern Province city of Al-Khobar.
She was released after a few hours, but later she was taken back into custody, an activist said.
"She was detained for hours at a police station until her brother came to secure her release," said the activist, who added that the notorious religious police were called by traffic police to help in arresting Ms Sharif.
The Twitter page for Women2Drive, managed by women calling for a driving protest in June, said police arrested Ms Sharif at her home, and that she had been taken to a correctional prison, usually used for women, after a brief detention at Al-Khobar police station.
It was not clear if she was charged with any offence.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that does not tolerate any form of dissent and applies an austere version of Sunni Islam in which religious police patrol the streets to ensure public segregation between men and women.
Women in the country are not allowed to drive and must have written approval from a designated guardian - a father, husband, brother or son - to leave the country, work or travel abroad.
The campaign Ms Sharif launched is aimed at teaching women to drive and encouraging them to start driving from June 17, using foreign-issued licences.
Ms Sharif's act of defiance came a few days after another Saudi woman, Najla al-Hariri, drove around the Western region city of Jeddah over a few days, insisting on her right to sit behind the wheel.
A group of women also defied the driving ban in November 1990, stunning Saudi men by getting in 15 cars and circling around the capital Riyadh before being arrested.
The 47 women who took part in the protest suffered severe punishment by authorities which suspended many of them from their public sector jobs and reprimanded their male guardians.
In 2008, activist Wajiha Huwaidar posted a video on YouTube showing her driving in the Eastern Province. She escaped arrest as she was lucky not to bump into police patrols.
/www.telegraph.co.uk
Women in the country are not allowed to drive and must have written approval from a designated guardian - a father, husband, brother or son - to leave the country, work or travel abroad.
The campaign Ms Sharif launched is aimed at teaching women to drive and encouraging them to start driving from June 17, using foreign-issued licences.
Ms Sharif's act of defiance came a few days after another Saudi woman, Najla al-Hariri, drove around the Western region city of Jeddah over a few days, insisting on her right to sit behind the wheel.
A group of women also defied the driving ban in November 1990, stunning Saudi men by getting in 15 cars and circling around the capital Riyadh before being arrested.
The 47 women who took part in the protest suffered severe punishment by authorities which suspended many of them from their public sector jobs and reprimanded their male guardians.
In 2008, activist Wajiha Huwaidar posted a video on YouTube showing her driving in the Eastern Province. She escaped arrest as she was lucky not to bump into police patrols.
/www.telegraph.co.uk
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