Senior Saudi clerics support decision to end driving ban

Riyadh: A majority of Saudi Arabia's Council of Senior Ulema religious scholars on Wednesday expressed support for a royal decree allowing women to drive.

The Islamic clerics said that King Salman bin Abdulaziz made the right and proper decisions based on the interest of the citizens.

"God save the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques who seeks the interests of his country and his people in light of Islamic Sharia," the Council said in a tweet.

According to the clerics, the majority of Council members saw no problem with women driving as long as there were guarantees and laws to maintain the respect and dignity of women, Efe reported.

King Salman on Tuesday paved the way for Saudi women to receive driving licenses after increasing demands from women and criticism from human rights groups over the prohibition.

This new decree comes in the context of new reforms that the King has ordered since his accession to the throne in 2015, including more freedom for women to carry out administrative procedures on their own, despite many procedures and activities still requiring the presence of a male guardian.