Two women win in Saudi election (BBC) [View All]

Two Saudi businesswomen have been elected in the kingdom's first ballot in which women were allowed to stand. Lama al-Suleiman and Nashwa Taher were among 12 successful candidates voted onto the board of Jeddah's chamber of commerce and industry.

...But the turnout was low among the female electorate, with only 100 women voting compared with about 4,000 men.

That means the women were elected with strong support from their male counterparts.

...King Abdullah has made the promotion of women in society a priority of Saudi Arabia's 2005-2009 development plan, but the authorities have emphasised it will have to be in line with what they see as the principles of Islam.