Dubai - Up to 20 Saudi Arabian women have attended a consultative council session for the first time in the kingdom where women have been barred from public life, a newspaper reported yesterday.
The London-based Arabiclanguage al-Hayat said the women attended the Shura Council session on Sunday and followed the proceedings from a balcony overlooking the meeting hall. The move came one day after the head of the Shura Council, Mohammad bin Jubair, said there was no objection in principle to Saudi women attending meetings.
He said on Saturday night that the Shura Council, whose members are named by King Fahd, could consult women on certain issues.