Belgium Appoints First Female Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Belgium has become the first country to appoint a female ambassador to Saudi Arabia in spite of the Gulf nation’s shocking women’s rights record.

Dominique Mineur will move to Riyhad to head up the embassy from next year in a ‘clear signal’ to Saudi officials.

Newly-appointed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has promised to modernise the kingdom and has abolished the law that prohibits women from driving.

But Saudi Arabia still lags behind the rest of the modern world when it comes to equality.

Mineur is currently based in the United Arab Emirates, according to Belgian broadcaster VRT, but will head for the Saudi capital in the summer.
Last Monday, Saudi Arabia lifted a decades-long ban on cinemas, part of a series of social reforms by the powerful crown prince that are shaking up the ultra-conservative kingdom.