Saudi Arabia has reversed a seven-decade total ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol by opening a drinks shop in the capital Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter. Although only non-Muslim envoys are permitted to patronise the shop, this shift marks another move in crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan. He seeks to liberalise the kingdom and diversify its economy away from oil by attracting multinational firms and tourists.
At Riyadh’s newly-inaugurated off-licence, customers must carry diplomatic passports and register to buy fixed amounts of spirits, wine and beer. Diplomats are also to be allowed to import specific quantities of alcoholic drinks. This is meant to halt the uncontrolled practice of smuggling alcohol in diplomatic pouches which cannot be checked by host country officials.
The ban on alcohol continues to apply to Saudis and Muslim and non-Muslim non-diplomatic foreigners who can drive across the causeway connecting Saudi Arabia to Bahrain to obtain alcohol at bars, restaurants and licensed shops.
Although possessing and consuming alcohol in Saudi Arabia is a crime and can be punished with fines, floggings, jail or deportation, foreign contractors working in the kingdom have long made and consumed illicit gin and beer within the walls of their compounds.
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The country was founded in 1932 by the crown prince’s grandfather, Abdelaziz ibn Saud, in partnership with the ultraconservative Sunni Wahhabi sect, but the Muslim religious prohibition on alcohol was not adopted until 1952. This became law for all citizens and residents after the king’s intoxicated son prince Mishari, then 19, shot dead British vice consul Cyril Ousman during a party in Jeddah.
The Saudi ban could be lifted for non-Muslims who are not diplomats if the crown prince eventually adopts the policy obtaining in Dubai and Qatar, where alcohol is available in hotels, restaurants and bars and non-Muslims are permitted to purchase alcoholic drinks at licensed shops. Buying drinks for Muslim friends and colleagues is widely practised and ignored by the authorities.
Trend-setting Dubai recently took a further step in the process of opening up to alcohol by licensing a local brewery to make craft beer. Until then, all alcoholic beverages had to be imported.
The Saudi reforms introduced by the crown prince – de facto ruler of the kingdom – began in stages in 2017-2018 with curbing the religious police, allowing concerts, opening cinemas and permitting women to drive. This coincided with a crackdown on ultraconservative opponents and liberal critics. Among the latter was journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018 by Saudi agents in Istanbul’s Saudi consulate. The crown prince was condemned as the alleged instigator of the operation and shunned in many world capitals until mid-2022, when he met US president Joe Biden at an Arab summit in Jeddah and visited France, Greece, and Turkey.
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