*RIYADH – Vogue cover photo of a Saudi princess behind the wheel of a redconvertible has ignited heated debate, as it follows a slew of arrests ofwomen driving activists.*
The image of Princess Hayfa bint Abdullah al-Saud, in the driver’s seatwearing leather gloves and high heels, is on the front cover of VogueArabia’s June edition, published as the Kingdom prepares to lift a drivingban on women.
The issue is dedicated to the “trailblazing women of Saudi Arabia” andlauds the reforms launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who hassought to loosen social restrictions in the Kingdom and curb the powers ofhardliners.
“In our country, there are some conservatives who fear change. For many,it’s all they have known,” Princess Hayfa, the daughter of the late KingAbdullah, was quoted as saying in the magazine.
“Personally, I support these changes with great enthusiasm,” added theprincess, whose cover photo was shot in the desert outside the western cityof Jeddah.
But the image drew scorn from campaigners protesting the arrests this monthof at least 11 activists, mostly identified by rights groups as veteranwomen campaigners for the right to drive and to end Saudi´s maleguardianship system.
At least four of those activists were released last week, AmnestyInternational said, but the fate of the others remains unclear.
Reports in state-backed media branded some of the detainees traitors and”agents of embassies”.
Many on social media posted the Vogue cover with images of the detainedactivists photoshopped over the princess’s face.
Analysts say the crackdown, which sparked a torrent of global criticism,has underlined the limits of reforms masterminded by the crown prince, whorecently undertook a global tour aimed at reshaping Saudi Arabia’s austereimage.
The Kingdom is set to lift its decades-old ban on women driving on June 24.
The Vogue Arabia issue also features other ‘inspirational’ Saudi women,including women´s rights activist Manal al-Sharif and Saja Kamal, afootballer working to establish the kingdom’s first women´s team. – APP/AFP