Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Saudi authorities have revoked international driver’s licenses held by Saudi women, Alarabiya.net reported this week. Saudi officials said they did so not to punish the women, but because the International Tourism Alliance forbids anyone from holding an international license—which is valid everywhere—who doesn’t already have a license from his or her home country. Saudi Arabia does not allow women to drive in the kingdom. In neighboring Bahrain, which has issued Bahraini licenses to several thousand Saudis of both sexes, Saudi women have amassed a fine driving record, officials said. “Despite the presence of a large number of Saudi women drivers in Bahrain,” said traffic chief Hassan al-Sameem, “not a single case of traffic violation has been registered against them.”
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