Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is an unusually forthright member of Saudi Arabia's extensive royal family.
He holds no political posts but chairs Kingdom Holding Co that has interests including in US banking giant Citigroup and the Euro Disney theme park.
He is a longtime advocate of women's rights in the conservative Islamic kingdom, which has some of the world's tightest restrictions on women and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive.
After his short tweet, Prince Alwaleed's office issued an uncharacteristically long statement in English and Arabic outlining his reasons for supporting an end to the ban. [...]
Using foreign drivers drains billions of dollars from the Saudi economy, Alwaleed said. He calculated families spend an average of $1,000 a month on a driver, money that otherwise could help household income at a time when many are making do with less.
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