QASSIM: Traffic police here released a Saudi woman Monday after briefly detaining her for driving a vehicle in the outskirts of Al-Ras, a Qassim town about 370 km west of Riyadh, an official said. A police patrol pulled over the 42-year-old woman when they saw her driving in Jandal District, said Col. Fahd Al-Habdan, spokesman of the Qassim Police Department. The woman was driving with her 82-year-old mother and an aunt. While she has been released, her Datsun pick-up of 1985 model is still impounded, the official added. The official said she was released “after signing an undertaking not to repeat the offense again.” The Commission for the promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai'a) was called to assist the detention of the woman. A witness said he used to see the woman driving every day to a desert farm to take care of her animals. “All the neighbors know this and got used to it,” the witness added. The incident came one day after authorities detained Manal Al-Sharief in Al-Khobar for five days pending investigation into her driving on Friday as part of her campaign to secure women's right to drive in Saudi Arabia.
