Egypt’s ruling Islamists will no issue licenses for selling alcohol in certain areas in Cairo and other major cities.
Al-Aarabiya reported:
Egypt’s Islamist government will no longer issue licenses for selling alcohol in certain areas of Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities, an official has said.
Nabil Abbas, the vice president of the New Urban Communities Authorities (NUCA) told Reuters on Sunday: “NUCA has stopped renewing licenses to sell alcohol but the current ones will continue until they expire.”
The current law states that only licensed outlets can sell alcoholic beverages.
The authority said the move will reduce access to alcohol and will increase safety in Egypt’s suburbs. In his statement Abbas said that the consumption of alcohol has led to deviant behavior in the country such “attacking women and randomly ringing doorbells of people’s homes.”
However, Ahmed Abdulhay, a Cairo resident and an opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood rejected Abbas’s statement as “totally untrue.”
In an interview with Al Arabiya, he said only a small number of Egyptians drink heavily. “They cannot be causing such a large problem that deserves this much attention by the government.”
This is just a way for the authorities to “impose their views” on society, Abdulhay said.