Reuters, Riyadh :
Saudi Arabian women awoke to news of a royal decree permitting them to drive starting next year – and some were already behind the wheel on Wednesday, even though licenses will not be issued for nine months.
“Saudi Arabia will never be the same again. The rain begins with a single drop,” Manal al-Sharif, who was arrested in 2011 after a driving protest, said in an online statement.
Online videos showed a handful of women driving cars overnight, after King Salman’s decree was announced late on Tuesday.
“I wish I could translate my feelings right now. I feel like no one can understand it fully but us,” said Abeer Alarjani, 32, who plans to start driving lessons this weekend. “Now I’ll finally dare to dream for more.”
The move represents a big crack in the laws and social mores governing women in the conservative Muslim kingdom.
Saudi Arabian women awoke to news of a royal decree permitting them to drive starting next year – and some were already behind the wheel on Wednesday, even though licenses will not be issued for nine months.
“Saudi Arabia will never be the same again. The rain begins with a single drop,” Manal al-Sharif, who was arrested in 2011 after a driving protest, said in an online statement.
Online videos showed a handful of women driving cars overnight, after King Salman’s decree was announced late on Tuesday.
“I wish I could translate my feelings right now. I feel like no one can understand it fully but us,” said Abeer Alarjani, 32, who plans to start driving lessons this weekend. “Now I’ll finally dare to dream for more.”
The move represents a big crack in the laws and social mores governing women in the conservative Muslim kingdom.
