The Telegraph reports:

Saudi Arabia is to lift its ban on women drivers in an attempt to stem a rising suffragette-style movement in the deeply conservative state.

Government officials have confirmed the landmark decision and plan to issue a decree by the end of the year.

The move is designed to forestall campaigns for greater freedom by women, which have recently included protesters driving cars through the Islamic state in defiance of a threat of detention and loss of livelihoods.

Blake Hounshell notes the creepy logic behind the decision: "Can't have that kind of uppity behavior!" And the snark is also in full effect at Dhimmi Watch, where they post the story under the headline "Saudi Arabia to enter 20th century."

Still, women driving around Saudi Arabia in protest comes as surprising news to me. I'm reminded of a contentious meeting Karen Hughes held with Saudi women during a trip to Saudi Arabia. Back in 2005, when Hughes made the trip, her first to the region, the New York Times reported that "when Ms. Hughes expressed the hope here that Saudi women would be able to drive and "fully participate in society" much as they do in her country, many challenged her."

As one Saudi woman told Huges:

"There is more male chauvinism in my profession in Europe and America than in my country," said Dr. Siddiqa Kamal, an obstetrician and gynecologist who runs her own hospital.

"I don't want to drive a car," she said. "I worked hard for my medical degree. Why do I need a driver's license?"

"Women have more than equal rights," added her daughter, Dr. Fouzia Pasha, also an obstetrician and gynecologist, asserting that men have obligations accompanying their rights, and that women can go to court to hold them accountable.

The Times reported the event as though this was the one unscripted moment on Hughes's tour through the country. The International Herald Tribune actually ran the story under the headline "Saudi women depart from the script." Worth keeping in mind the next time you read some nonsense about how Muslim women love being legally required to wear burqas and hijabs--they say so themselves.