ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's customs authority on Saturday announced that it was banning the import of alcoholic beverages "of all kinds" from all entry points. The decision does not automatically come into force in the Kurdistan Region. "Today, Saturday... the General Authority of Customs directed all regions and customs centers to prevent the entry of alcoholic beverages of all kinds," read the official statement. A controversial law banning the import, sale, and manufacture of alcoholic beverages was approved by the Iraqi parliament in 2016, but was only published in the justice ministry's official gazette in late February when the news sparked concern among minority groups. The majority of the shops selling alcohol are owned by Christians and Yezidis. Under the law, violators of the ban will face fines between 10 and 25 million Iraqi dinars, or roughly between $6,800 and $17,100. Samal Abdulrahman, the director general of the Kurdistan Region's customs, said that the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Council of Ministers will have the final say on whether the law will be applied in the Region. "Any decision issued by the Iraqi government must go through the filter of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Council of Ministers and obtain approval before we implement it," he told Rudaw. The latest decision places Iraq in line with its influential neighbor Iran, which banned alcoholic beverages after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iraq is a multicultural country of many religions, members of whom have repeatedly condemned a ban on booze, labeling it as unconstitutional and out of touch with democratic values. Iraq has a long history of consuming and making alcohol. In February, archeologists uncovered the remains of a 5,000-year-old pub in the ruins of ancient Lagash, northeast of the city of Nasiriyah. Evidence of beer drinking was found in the ruins.
