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[Adventurer]

Saudi women drivers take the wheel on June 17
One brave woman in Saudi Arabia is feeling the heat after renewing a drive to lift the ban keeping women off the roads.
Hala Al-Dosari


A simple two-line email - sent to me at the beginning of May from a mysterious account named "W2Drive" - was all it took to put Manal Al-Sharif and I on the same path. A group of Saudi women were now renewing the call that began in 1990, when an group of prominent Saudi women, mainly from academia and conservative Riyadh society, drove their cars. Their rebellious actions were in vain, for the country was on the verge of the first Gulf War, and it was easy to discredit their initiative; all it took back then was to proliferate conspiracy theories - alleging these women were pushing a foreign agenda, trying to Westernise the country and break the unity of the people.

The first campaign ended with the women involved severely punished, with a ban on work and travel that lasted for years. These women subsequently avoided any media attention for the following 20 years, putting a lid on their failed attempt.

Since then, many have eagerly awaited someone to pick up that cast-off torch and finish what was started. Manal Al-Sharif was in a prime position to do just that.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/06/201161694746333674.html