Karen Hughes to Saudis: "We in America take our freedoms very seriously"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Hughes Raises Driving Ban With Saudis
More Political Freedom For Women Also Urged

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 28, 2005; Page A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/27/AR2005092701311.html

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 27 -- Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes questioned Tuesday the Saudi ban on driving by women, telling a crowd of several hundred Saudi women, covered head to toe in black clothing, that it had negatively shaped the image of Saudi society in the United States.

"We in America take our freedoms very seriously," Hughes said. "I believe women should be free and equal participants in society. I feel that as an American woman that my ability to drive is an important part of my freedom."

Women in the audience applauded after she also mentioned that they should have a greater voice in the Saudi political system, including eventually receiving the right to vote.

Hughes hastened to add that Saudi society must change at its own pace and according to its own traditions, but she went significantly further in her statement than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did on a visit three months ago. Rice pressed for greater political freedoms for women but dismissed the subject of driving as "just a line that I have not wanted to cross." Asked about the contrast between her comments and Rice's, Hughes said her remarks were part of a U.S. policy of "slowly advancing ideas" with the Saudis. "My job is to raise issues in, I hope, a respectful way, to help other countries understand concerns Americans have," she said.