Saudi woman dies defying driving ban

A Saudi who defied a ban on women driving in the kingdom was killed along with three more of her 10 female passengers when her car overturned in a crash, an internet news site reported on Sunday.

A Riyadh police official, Fawwaz al-Miman, told Sabq website that the seven other women were all injured in Saturday night's crash in a desert area where young Saudis gather to stage car races.

The unidentified woman, who was in her twenties, was driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle when she lost control and hit a barrier, the official said.

There have been several incidents reported in recent years of women being killed in accidents while driving despite the ban, one of a host of restrictions imposed on women in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia.

Women's rights campaigners have petitioned King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz urging him to lift the ban.

Women in the kingdom are forced to cover themselves from head to toe in public, and cannot travel without written permission from a male guardian.

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