Saudi authorities have detained at least six ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Just weeks before Saudi Arabia is set to lift its ban on women driving, the kingdom's state security said Saturday it had detained seven people who are being accused of working with "foreign entities." The kingdom's state security said it had detained seven people and rights activists say all of them had worked in some capacity on women's rights issues, with five among the most prominent and outspoken women's rights campaigners in the country. The three women had also called for an end to other less visible forms of discrimination in Saudi Arabia, such as guardianship laws that give male relatives final say on whether a woman can travel abroad, obtain a passport or marry. Their movement was seen as part of a larger democratic and civil rights push in the kingdom, which remains an absolute monarchy where protests are illegal and where all major decision-making rests with the king and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The detainees rounded up since 15 May include Loujain al-Hathloul, Aziza al-Yousef and Eman al-Nafjan, women who have long opposed the driving ban – to be lifted on 24 June – as well as the kingdom’s enduring guardianship laws. One of the rights activists, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the latest arrests were tied to advocacy for women driving: “They detained them because they do not want them to publicly claim success.”

Government spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The spokesman said the women wanted to “destabilize the kingdom and breach its social structure and mar the national consistency.”

The statement did not name the activists, but local media did, with one headline in the daily al-Jazirah newspaper branding them as “traitors.”

Saudi Arabia is set to lift the world’s only ban on women driving on June 24, in a move that was heralded round the world as a significant step for women’s rights in the country. When the kingdom issued its stunning royal decree last year announcing that women would be allowed to drive in 2018, women like al-Nafjan and al-Yousef were contacted by the royal court and warned against giving interviews to the media or speaking out on social media. “Saudi Arabia cannot continue to publicly proclaim support for women’s rights and other reforms, while targeting women human rights defenders and activists for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly,” Hadid added. Activists said writer Mohammad al-Rabea and lawyer Ibrahim al-Mudaimigh, two men who worked to support women’s rights campaigners, were also among the seven detained. Mr Al-Mudaimigh defended Ms al-Hathloul in court when she was arrested in late 2014 for more than 70 days for her online criticism of the government and for attempting to bring attention to the driving ban by driving from neighbouring United Arab Emirates into Saudi Arabia.
The state security of Saudi Arabia arrests seven women's rights activists, whom the pro-government media presented as "traitors to the fatherland," for allegedly working with foreign entities. These arrests take place a little more than a month before the driving ban for women is lifted.