Saudi driving ban challenged

SAUDI authorities arrested a female activist who launched a campaign to challenge a ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom and posted a video on the internet of her driving, activists said.

The YouTube video, posted last Thursday, has attracted more than 500,000 views and shows Manal Alsharif, who learned to drive in the United States, driving her car in Khobar in the oil-producing Eastern Province.

An Eastern Province police spokesperson declined to comment and an interior ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.