http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=65410&d=14&m=6&y=2005
Tuesday, 14, June, 2005 (07, Jumada al-Ula, 1426)
Women Driving Not a Priority: Prince Naif
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News
JEDDAH, 14 June 2005 - Interior Minister Prince Naif has
criticized calls to lift a decades-old ban on women driving and said the issue
was not a priority for the Kingdom.
He said he was surprised the matter had been raised in the
Shoura Council. Referring to the council member who brought the issue up, the
prince said: "Does he understand what the priorities are? We consider this
issue to be a secondary issue, not a priority. These matters are decided by
taking into consideration the public interest and what is dictated by a woman's
honor. I urge everybody to end this and not make an issue out of it, pitting
one group against another."
Last month Shoura member Mohammad Al-Zulfa said he would
present a proposal to the 150-member consultative body for a gradual lifting of
the ban on women driving. He argued that the ban cost the Kingdom about SR12
billion annually in payment to drivers and that having unfamiliar men driving
women was incompatible with Islamic teachings.
Prince Naif said Saudi Arabia would not rush to imitate
changes elsewhere. "We should avoid being an echo of what is proposed in other
countries. We are a society, which has its own viewpoints based on Islamic
teachings," he explained.
The interior minister also pointed out that opponents of the
public interest were using the controversy to promote women driving as a
viewpoint of society. He said women are held in high esteem in the Saudi
society.
"This is a public issue and must be tackled considering
woman's interests and their situations. Women are dear to us and they have a
prominent position. Nobody should doubt that. Our men sacrifice their lives to
protect women's honor," he added.
In an earlier statement, Prince Naif said women driving was a
social issue and must be decided by Saudi society. "I believe that this is a
controversy which has no meaning because it is a social matter to be decided by
society. It looks as if some people want to make it an issue but it's not," the
Saudi Press Agency quoted the prince as saying.
Zulfa introduced his proposal in the Shoura as part of a
non-controversial debate on road safety. He argued that lifting the ban on
women drivers could resolve what he considers a serious social problem - the
presence of some one million foreign men who drive Saudi women around.
Dr. Suhaila Hammad, a senior member of the National Society
of Human Rights, said the matter must be left to the woman's personal choice.
"Driving should be a personal choice for women. Our government has signed
international treaties on non-discrimination between sexes as long as the
treaties are not in conflict with Islam, and driving is not," she said.
She explained that society could gradually accept women
driving if we imposed strict laws, provide road assistance and possibly limit
the times when women would be allowed to drive.
At his press conference in Riyadh on Sunday night, Prince
Naif also reported substantial improvement in the health of Custodian of the
Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, who was admitted to hospital two weeks ago for
medical tests.
"The news is good and reassuring and the king's health is
steadily improving and, God willing, his stay in hospital will not be long," he
told reporters. "I think what remains now is completing medical procedures," he
said without elaborating.
Prince Naif also said that there was no plan to give another
amnesty to Al-Qaeda militants. "The royal amnesty is over. If anyone of them
surrenders and corrects his mistakes, it will be appreciated," he added.
Asked about the trial of 13 suspects - eight Saudis and five
Libyans - accused of trying to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah in late 2003,
Prince Naif said they would face a normal trial. He downplayed the matter of
some members of the Al-Murrah tribe having their citizenship revoked, saying it
was an internal matter for Qatar.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg
Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.org
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