Saudi Arabia: Authorities Lift Ban on Cinemas

Saudi Princess Says She Is 'Ready to Drive'
One of the most prominent women in Saudi Arabia has said she is "ready to drive", adding momentum to efforts to reform the country's religious ban on women motorists.

Princess Amira al-Taweel, the wife of the conservative Islamic kingdom's most renowned businessman, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said she already drives when she travels abroad.

"Certainly I'm ready to drive a car," she said in an interview with al-Watan, a Saudi Arabian daily newspaper. "I have an international driver's licence, and I drive a car in all the countries I travel to."

Her seemingly innocuous comments carry a high political charge in a country where educated women have been pressing quietly for more rights.

Two years ago Princess Lolwah al-Faisal, the daughter of the late King Faisal, spoke in support of women driving at the World Economic Forum in Davos. >>> | Monday, February 8, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia 'May Allow' Cinemas After Three-decade Ban

The chief of Saudi Arabia's powerful religious police has said some movies may be acceptable in the kingdom, despite a three-decade ban on cinemas, local press reported on Sunday.

Sheikh Ibrahim al-Gaith, head of the feared Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, made the concession after last week's breakthrough public showings in Jeddah of the comedy feature "Manahi".

"A movie could possibly be acceptable if it serves good and is suitable under Islam," Sheikh Gaith said.

Gaith pulled back from comments he made two days earlier branding movies "an absolute evil" in the wake of screenings in the Red Sea port city.

"I did not say that we reject all cinema, but I said that we were not consulted during the organisation of these movie showings," he explained.

For more than a week from Dec 9, the Rotana entertainment group, controlled by Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, showed "Manahi" to rapturous audiences in Jeddah and nearby Taif.

The screenings, approved by the provincial governor, Prince Khalid al-Faisal, sparked hopes that Saudi Arabia would soon allow public cinemas. >>> | Monday, December 22, 2008

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