The Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef, has repeated that his government will not allow women to drive.

Speaking to the media in Riyadh, the Prince said current legislation would remain unchanged.

Saudi Arabia is the only Gulf state to ban women from the road. On the issue of granting individual identity cards to female citizens, Prince Nayef declined to say if or when such a measure might be taken. Correspondents say Saudi women lead some of the most restricted lives in the world, with everything but the most minor public transaction requiring approval from their husbands or fathers.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service