Alwaleed is an unusually outspoken member of the
Saudi royal family who holds no political posts but chairs Kingdom Holding Co.,
which has interests including US banking giant Citigroup and the Euro Disney
theme park.
In conjunction with his short tweet, Alwaleed's office issued an
unusually long statement late Tuesday outlining his reasons for supporting an
end to the ban.
This Saudi billionaire wants an "urgent" end to his country's
ban on women driving, saying overturning the law was a matter of women's rights
and economic necessity.
"Stop the debate: Time for women to
drive," Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on his official Twitter account,
@Alwaleed_Talal."Preventing a woman from driving a car is today an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade her from receiving an education or having an independent identity," Alwaleed said.
"They are all unjust acts by a traditional society, far more restrictive than what is lawfully allowed by the precepts of religion."
He also detailed the "economic costs" of women having to rely on foreign private drivers or taxis, since public transit is not a viable alternative in the kingdom.
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