Subaru asked to back Saudi Arabian women

A group campaigning for an end to Saudi Arabia's ban on women drivers is calling on Subaru parent Fuji Heavy Industries to pull out of the kingdom until the prohibition is lifted.

The call follows US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's support for the group, Saudi Women for Driving. It organised a show of defiance by women - who drove in Saudi Arabia on June 17. Clinton called the women who defied the driving ban "brave," adding: "I am moved by it and I support them."

Subaru is the first carmaker targeted by the campaign because it is "progressive" and has marketed its products to women, the group said in a petition on US-based Change.org, a website for social activism.

"This is already the largest women's rights movement in Saudi history and no one here knows what will happen next, but a big company like Subaru pulling out could help change our country forever," the women's group said.

The campaign may be extended to General Motors' Cadillac brand and Hyundai, two badges used by Manal al-Sharif, a woman who was arrested for driving, said Benjamin Joffe-Walt, Change.org's human rights editor.

Subaru and Hyundai have not commented. Hanspeter Ryser, a Cadillac spokesman based in Zurich, said he was not aware of any plans to change Cadillac's business in Saudi Arabia because of the ban against women driving.

"I cannot imagine there are any steps planned to pull out of Saudi Arabia," Ryser said. "Cadillac vehicles are very popular in this part of the world. In general, we as a company are not getting engaged in political debates, political issues."

The campaign caps a series of developments that began last month when Saudi women used Facebook and Twitter to call for women with international driver's licences to use their cars on June 17.

Al-Sharif, a 32-year-old computer-security consultant who has helped organise the women's efforts to lift the ban, was arrested after she drove more than once and urged other women to drive in a video she posted on YouTube, Amnesty International said. She was forced to sign a pledge that she wouldn't drive again and was released 10 days later, Amnesty said. Some Saudis, including cleric Sheikh Mohammed al-Nujaimi, say the ban on women drivers prevents the spread of vice.