Women in Oman have welcomed a decision to allow them to drive taxis, saying it will expand the work possibilities open to them. The decision also allows them to carry male passengers if they wish. Dubai broke the regional taboo against female taxi drivers in May 2000, but only permitted them to carry female passengers. However, the BBC's Gulf correspondent Julia Wheeler says Omani women take pride that their country allows them more rights than many other women in the region currently enjoy.
Official figures say that Omani women now make up nearly a third of the workforce.
Oman was the first Gulf Arab state to grant some of its female population a vote - to elect an advisory Shura council, to which two women were elected last September.