JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes questioned yesterday the Saudi ban on driving by women, telling a crowd of several hundred Saudi women, covered head to toe in black clothing, that it had negatively shaped the image of Saudi society in the United States.

"We in America take our freedoms very seriously," Hughes said. "I believe women should be free and equal participants in society. I feel that as an American woman that my ability to drive is an important part of my freedom."

Women in the audience applauded after she also mentioned that they should have a greater voice in the Saudi political system, including eventually receiving the right to vote.

Hughes hastened to add that Saudi society must change at its own pace and according to its own traditions, but she went significantly further in her statement than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did on a visit three months ago.

Newly appointed to run public-diplomacy efforts for the Bush administration, Hughes was on a weeklong tour of the Middle East to improve the image of the United States, but the tables were turned yesterday in meetings with Saudi students, journalists and officials.

Many people who spoke with Hughes focused on Saudi Arabia's poor image in the United States, complaining especially about news-media coverage that they said portrayed Saudi men as terrorists and Saudi women as abused and unhappy.

Hughes raised the subject of driving in response to such a comment during the meeting with women at the private college of Dar al-Hekma.

Women interviewed at the college said they were pleased that Hughes had raised the issue, but they appeared divided on the ban itself.

Fouzia Pasham, a gynecologist, defended the ban, saying women who drive in other countries have to keep "a good smiling face" as they are forced to shuttle around town picking up their children and running errands.

But a mother of four, who would give her name only as Tulien, said she had secretly learned to drive in the desert and was frustrated by the ban, even though she could afford two drivers.

"We are very happy and satisfied, but we would be happier and more satisfied if we could drive," she said.