Saudi Clerics Hit More Rights for Women [View All]

[Pert_UK]

"RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Prominent Saudi clerics and academics warned Wednesday against calls for equality and increased rights for women, saying such efforts aim to make Muslim women more like ``infidel'' Western types.

Efforts to give women greater rights are part of an anti-Islamic campaign spearheaded by the United States, said 130 Saudi sheiks and academics in a statement obtained by The Associated Press Wednesday.

Women in Saudi Arabia are segregated in public places, they cannot drive cars, and they must be covered from head to toe in public in this strict conservative society...

``Any calls for absolute equality is an illegal and illogical call,'' the statement said. It said allowing women to drive, a repeated request in the kingdom, would lead to ``many evils.'' "

Full article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3132970,00.html

Here's a problem for you - the US, arguably, would like societies like Saudi Arabia to embrace more equality for women. However, societies like Saudi Arabia hate Bush so much that they will actively fight against any measures that even look like they're aligned with US wishes.....I'm not saying that Muslim countries would automatically grant equality to all their population if it weren't for Bush, but it's very easy for hardliners to object to progress by painting it as the interference from the West.