Saudi King orders to grant driving licenses for women

RIYADH, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Tuesday issued a royal decree granting driving licenses for women in the kingdom, local media reported.

The order lifted a decades-old ban on Saudi women from driving, a right that has been reserved only to male citizens and residents so far.

The decree, approved by the majority of religious scholars, said the benefits of allowing women to drive outweigh the negative affects, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.