MIDDLE-EAST - Saudi women traveling solo can now stay in hotels

eTN, Jan 22, 2008

Women in Saudi Arabia can now stay in a hotel or a furnished apartment without a male guardian, Al Watan newspaper reported. This, following a government decision that comes as the country faces increasing criticism for its severe restrictions on women. The daily paper, deemed close to the Saudi government, reported Monday that a circular from the Saudi government authorizing hotels to accept lone women as long as their information is sent to a local police station.
The decision was adopted after a study conducted by the Saudi Ministry of Interior, the Supreme Commission of Tourism and the religious police authority known as the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, reported the Al Watan.

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