Baghdad authorities shut down businesses selling alcohol without permit

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Local health authorities in Baghdad recently announced the closure of many restaurants and cafes that serve alcoholic beverages to their customers on the grounds they did not have the necessary permit.

This came amid a campaign carried out by a health inspector department in the Iraqi capital that targeted hotels, restaurants, tourist facilities, clubs, and bars that were purportedly engaged in the illicit sale of alcohol.

The Karkh Health Department said in a statement that their crackdown aims to “prevent the use of alcohol” in places not allowed by Iraqi law.

“A number of irregularities were observed in [various] entertainment [centers]…in the al-​Mansour neighborhood and surrounding areas, some of which do not have health permits and practice vending alcohol,” the statement added.

The statement said that “restaurants overflowing and practicing the work have been closed for a period of three days and fined 500,000 dinars [USD 420].”

In recent years, there have been periodic crackdowns on liquor shops in Baghdad, where they are ordered closed during Ramadan and the Shia holy month of Muharram. In 2016, Iraq’s Parliament passed a surprise law that made criminal the import, production, or selling of alcoholic beverages, but it was not implemented.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany