Oman proposes Gulf ban on women wearing full-face niqab veils from driving

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A Saudi online newspaper says Oman is proposing that women be banned from wearing face veils when driving.

Al-Watan said Tuesday Oman made the proposal at a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council police traffic department heads. It singled out the niqab, a mask that covers a woman's face, leaving only a slit for her eyes.

The Oman delegate said that wearing a niqab while driving should be a traffic violation, indicating that the garment restricts vision and represents a hazard.

The traffic police chiefs met in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia to discuss unification of traffic laws. They are referring proposals back to their governments.

In Saudi Arabia itself, such a regulation would have no immediate effect. Though almost all Saudi women wear a niqab — women are forbidden to drive there.