Liquor store in Iraq
Photo: AP
Iraqi parliament passes bill banning alcohol
Joining a number of other Muslim-majority countries, it is unclear to what extent Iraq’s newly passed ‘Prohibition,’ which carries with it a hefty $21,000 penalty, will be enforced.
Iraq's parliament has passed a law forbidding the import, production or selling of alcoholic beverages.
The bill, passed late Saturday, imposes a fine of up to 25 million Iraqi dinars, or $21,000, for anyone violating the ban.
Islam forbids the consumption of alcohol, but it has always been available in Iraq's larger cities, mainly from shops run by Christians. Those shops are currently closed because of the Shiite holy month of Muharram.
In this Sept. 11, 2007, file photo, a man looks at bottles of alcohol on sale in liquor store in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo: AP)
Iraq's parliament is dominated by Shiite Islamist parties. The legislation was proposed by Mahmoud al-Hassan, a judge and lawmaker from the State of Law coalition, the largest bloc in parliament. The assembly announced the ban on its website but did not say how many lawmakers voted for or against it.
Kirk Sowell, the publisher of the biweekly newsletter Inside Iraqi Politics, said the bill was clearly supported by Shiite Islamists but came "as a bit of a surprise because it has not been a subject of major debate or discussion."
An Iraqi man walks past a closed liquor store in the capital Baghdad on October 23. (Photo: AP)
He said the executive branch could move to have the law overturned on procedural or other grounds, and the Supreme Court could potentially strike it down.
(Photo: AP)
It's unclear how strictly the law would be enforced. Other Muslim-majority countries in the region have laws restricting alcohol, but only a few, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, enforce a complete ban. The Iraqi law was unlikely to be enforced in the largely autonomous Kurdish region, which is home to a sizeable Christian community.
The bill comes as Iraq is waging a massive military operation to retake the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State group. IS brutally enforces a ban on alcohol, cigarettes and other drugs in the territory under its control.
