IRAQ: RELIGIOUS GROUPS HAVE DESTROYED SEVERAL BREWERIES AND ISSUED ORDERS THAT ALCOHOL BE BANNED FROM SALE
Record ID:
647051
IRAQ: RELIGIOUS GROUPS HAVE DESTROYED SEVERAL BREWERIES AND ISSUED ORDERS THAT ALCOHOL BE BANNED FROM SALE
- Title: IRAQ: RELIGIOUS GROUPS HAVE DESTROYED SEVERAL BREWERIES AND ISSUED ORDERS THAT ALCOHOL BE BANNED FROM SALE
- Date: 21st May 2003
- Summary: (EU) OUTSIDE BAGHDAD, IRAQ (MAY 20, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV EXTERIOR DESTROYED WHITE ARAK-PRODUCING BREWERY "AL-ABRAAJ"; SLV PILES OF SMASHED BOTTLES; SCU MASHED BOTTLE OF IRAQI WHISKY; SCU SMASHED BOTTLES (4 SHOTS) 0.21 2. SLV CONTAINER WITH PUDDLE OF FERMENTING ALCOHOL; SCU BUBBLING FERMENTING ALCOHOL 0.36 3. SLV PILES OF SMASHED WALL IN FRONT OF DESTROYED BUILDING; SCU BULLET HOLE IN WALL 0.45 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FARIS HANON RADY, WHO LIVES NEARBY, SAYING "The news came saying that the Arak factories were shot. People broke in and started to loot and it was terrible" 1.00 5. SLV DONKEY IN FRONT OF ANOTHER DESTROYED BREWERY 1.06 6. SLV EXTERIOR LIQUOR STORE; SCU SIGN SAYING "LIQUOR SHOP"; MV SON OF LIQUOR STORE OWNER PUTTING IRAQI BEER INTO PLASTIC BAGS; SCU BOTTLES OF IRAQI ARAK ON SHELF (4 SHOTS) 1.27 7. MV OWNER SORTING BOTTLES ON SHELF; SCU CRATES OF IRAQI BEER 1.37 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) STORE OWNER (WOULD NOT GIVE HIS NAME), SAYING "Now, they threaten all the owners of liquor stores. They are saying, either you close your shop, or we'll close and destroy it." 1.51 9. SCU TILT DOWN VODKA, WINE AND ARAK BOTTLES ON SHELF 1.58 10. SLV EXTERIOR OF SHIA HAWZA RELIGIOUS CENTRE; SCU SIGN FOR SHIA HAWZA CENTRE 2.06 11. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HASSANAIN ALI HUSSEIN, WHO WORKS AT SHIA HAWZA CENTRE, SAYING "If they (Hawza) find people selling alcohol in the streets, they will make them pack up or beat them up. And they close the stores because our religion will not allow it." 12. SLV EXTERIOR MOSQUE 2.18 12. SLV STREET SCENE 2.23 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 5th June 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: OUTSIDE BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVACBVV9BBXXDYLVIZBDFKF8YKT9
- Story Text: Religious groups have destroyed several breweries in
Baghdad and issued an order that alcohol be banned from sale
across the city from Friday (May 23, 2003).
The move comes as religious groups across the country,
tightly controlled under Saddam Hussein, begin to assert power
in an effort to build a state based on Islamic values.
The "Al-Abraaj" brewery outside Baghdad was destroyed
on May 10 by missiles launched by members of a religious
group. Two people were killed and three injured.
"The news came saying that the Arak factories were shot.
People broke inside and started to loot and it was terrible,"
said Faris Hanon Rady, who lives nearby.
The brewery was fully operational at the time, producing
Arak for local consumption. Three other breweries in the city
have also been destroyed.
In 1993, Saddam Hussein banned the sale of alcohol in bars
and nightclubs and started building huge mosques in an effort
to gain support from Islamic countries across the world and
religious groups within Iraq. The law also forbade the sale of
liquor on the streets and limited licensing hours: alcohol
could not be sold after 9pm and liquor stores could not open
on Friday.
But breweries remained fully operational, producing beer
and spirits, and alcohol was sold freely in the stores.
But, as of Friday (May 23), anyone caught selling alcohol
faces having his store closed, or even destroyed. Some have
been told they will be beaten up.
"Now, they threaten all the owners of liquor stores. They
are saying, either you close your shop, or we'll close and
destroy it," said one store owner who refused to give his
name.
Since the fall of Saddam, Shia religious groups,
previously tightly controlled, have asserted their power and
are efforting to impose laws to create a society based on
Islamic values.
"If they (Hawza) find people selling alcohol in the
streets, they will make them pack up or beat them up. And they
close the stores because our religion will not allow it," said
Hassanain Ali Hussein, who works at the Shia Hawza centre.
Hawza is an ancient Shi'ite theological college based in
Najaf which trains Shi'ite clergymen and debates social,
religious and political issues.
Alcohol prices have fallen as a result of the order as
shopkeepers rush to get rid of unsold supplies.
Religious groups are likely to impose similar restrictions
on films, magazines and newspapers are likely to follow.
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