RIYADH, Feb 11: A Saudi minister sparked a controversy on Saturday by urging women to challenge the ban on driving in a court.

Information Minister Iyad Madani made the suggestion at the inaugural session of the Jeddah Economic Forum, saying that there was no law in the country to stop women from driving.

“There is nothing in the written laws of the country that prohibits women from applying for a driver’s licence,” Mr Madani said in reply to a question on women’s voting rights from Britain’s Baroness Emma Nicholson, a member of the House of Lords.

Prominent personalities attending the forum include former US vice president Al Gore and former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The latter, in his speech, said he was hopeful that Senator Hillary Clinton would win the next American presidential election.

With 2,700 delegates from 28 countries attending the three-day forum titled ‘New Horizons of Economic Growth’, the event is regarded as one of the most high-profile events in Jeddah’s social calendar.

Iyad Madani, a former journalist, said the Saudi government could not overturn the driving ban since such prohibitions were municipal subjects.

“It is up to women to take legal procedures to knock down the municipal law in that area,” Mr Madani said. Saudi women used to drive until the 1960s. Many old women still show their driving licences, which they cherish as a souvenir.

There is no ban on women driving within Aramco premises and in the remote regions of the country.

However, Mr Madani defended Saudi Arabia’s treatment of women. “Our approach isn’t to call for feminism, but rather femininity.”

After Mr Madani’s speech, Baroness Nicholson - seated in a section of the auditorium reserved for women - asked the minister whether the Saudi government would soon relax the ban on women voting or running in political elections.

In Jeddah, two women won seats and currently sit on the chamber’s board. Senior government officials concede in private conversations that women would be allowed to take part in the next municipal elections.

Mr Madani urged women to seek more representation on non-political groups as a prelude to running for office.

“The initiative should be taken by activists in the women’s community,” he said. “The doors, if not wide open right now, are partially open.”