A
Kuwaiti woman was arrested in Saudi Arabia for trying to drive her
father to hospital, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Sunday, a week after
Saudi women protested against a ban on female drivers.
Kuwaiti
women are free to drive in their country and enjoy far more rights than
those in Saudi Arabia, who are not allowed to travel abroad, open a
bank account or work without permission from a male relative.
The
English language Kuwait Times said the woman was driving in an area
just over the border, with her father in the passenger seat, when she
was stopped by police. Kuwaitis and Saudi locals regularly cross the
border and communities living along the frontier are often a mix of
people from both countries.
The
woman, who said her diabetic father could not drive and needed to be
taken to hospital for treatment, is being held in custody pending an
investigation, the paper said, citing police.
The paper did not suggest that the woman was protesting Saudi Arabia's ban on female drivers.
Saudi
police in the border town al-Khafji referred calls to the local traffic
police, who could not be reached for comment. Officials in the Kuwaiti
Interior Ministry said they could not comment on reports of incidents
outside Kuwait.
Kuwaiti
women gained the right to vote and stand for political office in 2005
after years of campaigning and a push by senior ruling family members.
Conservative
members of the Kuwaiti parliament, including some who draw on Saudi
Arabia's austere interpretation of Islam, had previously blocked the
reforms, saying that Islamic law prevented women from leadership
positions.
In
Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah has pushed some cautious reforms to give
women more employment opportunities and a greater public voice, but has
often faced resistance from senior clergy.
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