JEDDAH, 15 October 2005 — Saudi women yesterday applauded the statement by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah that they would be permitted to drive someday. Women then called for a dialogue to convince opponents of women driving to change their misconceptions. In an interview with ABC News broadcast yesterday, King Abdullah told veteran reporter Barbara Walters that the issue required patience, and he would not impose it against the will of the people, issuing a royal decree. He noted that women drive on the Kingdom’s deserts and in rural areas.

“I believe strongly in the rights of women,” the king said during his first television interview since acceding to the Saudi throne on Aug. 1. “I believe the day will come when women drive. In time, I believe it will be possible. And I believe patience is a virtue.” Walters, known for her interviews with celebrities and world leaders, was blunt in her questioning. “You cannot just make a decree that women drive? You’re the king,” she said.

“I value and take care of my people as I would my eyes,” Abdullah replied.

“Is that an answer?” Walters queried. “Yes, I respect my people, and I value their well-being,” the king said. “It is impossible that I would do anything that is not acceptable to my people.”

Princess Adelah, daughter of the king, recently made a similar comment about women driving and that the issue has also been brought up in the Shoura Council. “The king himself when he was crown prince said that within a few years many developments will happen for women, and they will receive many of their rights,” said Dr. Suhaila Hammad, a senior member of the National Society for Human Rights.

“I think our political leaders are in favor of permitting women to drive, but what is preventing it are society’s perceptions and religious misinterpretations. There is nothing in Islam that states that women shouldn’t drive. In fact in the olden days, women used to ride camels and horses — the transportation means of the time,” Suhaila told Arab News while commending the king’s statement.

“We have to convince those who oppose women driving, and we should have a dialogue on the issue. What we need is for our religious scholars to issue a decision about it, and people will follow,” she said.

Suhaila does not favor conducting a survey because most people, including women who don’t know much about their rights, lack awareness and are influenced by the opinions of a few. The NSHR has recently received a petition by 120 women asking for their right to drive, but there was also a petition by 500 women forwarded to the king asking him not to grant women that right because they think it contradicts Islam.

“Women should be allowed to drive,” teacher Amani Badaghesh told Arab News. She also emphasized the need for employing women in the Traffic Police and Public Security to change societal attitudes about women driving.

Amal Al-Ghamdi, 21, a student at the College of Education in Jeddah, said she hoped that Saudi women would soon be able drive their vehicles to help them stand on their feet without depending on male relatives or foreign drivers to play a more active role in society.

Housewife Um Turki said she believes that King Abdullah’s statement will have a great impact on changing society’s mistaken notions about women driving. She, however, favored fixing a certain age limit and times for women driving to ensure their safety.

In the interview, King Abdullah said that religious extremism is found everywhere. He doesn’t deny its existence in the Kingdom, but he said he was surprised at linking of extremism with Saudi Arabia. He emphasized that Islam is a religion of peace and that the Kingdom is fighting terrorism. Those who accuse it of funding terrorism should present at least some type of evidence.

The king also talked about the Kingdom’s efforts to lower oil prices. Even though Saudi Arabia benefits from high oil revenues, the high prices had harmed poor countries.

“What the king said is consistent with the Kingdom’s policy since the ‘80s of stabilizing global energy market so that oil suppliers and consumers have a balanced relationship,” said Dr. Ihsan Bu-Hulaiga, an economist and Shoura Council member. “This is a long-term strategy for oil prices to be affordable for major consumers — not necessarily low but not excessively high — in order to discourage alternative energy sources from becoming more affordable,” he said to Arab News.

The high oil prices had a negative global economic impact. “With continued high oil prices, the least developed and poor countries can’t pay their oil bills, and Saudi Arabia is not trying to be opportunistic or have a short-term gain. Saudi Arabia was the first to call for a dialogue to coordinate policies between major producers and consumers,” he said. It is in the best interest of Saudi Arabia to have a long-term strategy that looks at the market supply and demand and draw a policy that is productive and efficient, said Dr. Bu-Hulaiga.

In his wide-ranging interview, King Abdullah also talked about the Kingdom’s efforts at bringing peace to Iraq and to foster world cooperation against terrorism. He said that Saudi Arabia has its differences with American policy especially with regards to the Palestinian issue and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also said that none of the Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, should have nuclear weapons and hoped that Iran would not be an obstacle to peace in Iraq.

King Abdullah said he had dispensed with the traditional royal protocol of having his subjects kiss his hand.

“I have tremendous distaste for such matters because I believe that one only bows before God, not another human being,” he told Walters on ABC’s “20/20.”

ABC News staff said the new king “appears determined to present American viewers with a new vision of Saudi Arabia, starting with the fact that he has chosen to do his first-ever television interview with a woman.”

— With input by Mohammed Rasooldeen