US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday publicly threw her support behind a campaign by Saudi women to lift a ban on female driving in the conservative oil-rich kingdom. "What these women are doing is brave, and what they are seeking is right," Clinton told reporters, ending what US officials had called quiet US diplomacy in response to a campaign by Saudi women to defy the ban on driving.
"I'm moved by it (the campaign) and I support them," the chief US diplomat said. However, Clinton sought to make clear she was not interfering in the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia, a key US Middle East ally. "I want to underscore the fact that this is not coming from outside of their country. This is the women themselves seeking to be recognised," the chief US diplomat said. "We have raised this issue at the highest level of the Saudi government," Clinton said. Clinton's spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the secretary had raised the issue in the last few days with Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister.
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