Saudi Arabia's plans may permit alcohol gross sales to non-Muslim diplomats for the primary time, two sources accustomed to the plan informed AFP on Wednesday, altering strict liquor guidelines within the conservative nation.
Alcohol “shall be bought to non-Muslim diplomats” who beforehand needed to import alcohol via a diplomatic bag or a sealed official package deal, one of many sources mentioned.
Prohibition has been the regulation of the land in Saudi Arabia since 1952, shortly after one among King Abdulaziz's sons received drunk and shot lifeless a British diplomat in anger.
There have been rumors for years that alcohol would grow to be obtainable within the Gulf kingdom amid a wave of social reforms launched as a part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Imaginative and prescient 2030 reform agenda, together with the introduction of mixed-sex cinemas and music festivals.
A press release from the Saudi authorities mentioned on Wednesday that authorities are “introducing a brand new regulatory framework… to counter the illicit commerce in alcohol items and merchandise obtained by diplomatic missions.”
The assertion added: “The brand new course of will give attention to allocating particular portions of alcohol items upon coming into the Kingdom to place an finish to the earlier unregulated course of that precipitated an uncontrolled trade of such items within the Kingdom. ”
The coverage “will proceed to grant and assure that each one diplomats from non-Muslim embassies have entry to those merchandise inside specified quotas.”
The assertion indicated that not a lot would instantly change for the overwhelming majority of Saudi Arabia's 32 million residents, who’ve few methods to soak up themselves until they’re keen to journey overseas.
Along with attending diplomatic receptions in Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter, they will make home made wine or flip to the black market, the place bottles of whiskey can go for tons of of {dollars} forward of holidays like New 12 months's Eve.
– Delicate matter –
Beneath Saudi regulation, punishments for consumption or possession of alcohol can embrace fines, imprisonment, public flogging, and deportation of foreigners.
Final 12 months, Saudi Arabia received internet hosting rights for the Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup, additional fueling hypothesis that the alcohol ban might be lifted, or at the least weakened by exceptions in locations like NEOM, a deliberate futuristic megacity of 500 billion {dollars}.
However on condition that alcohol is banned in Islam, the difficulty stays extremely delicate within the nation dwelling to the faith's holiest websites, the cities of Mecca and Medina.
Saudi officers had rejected recommendations of any main coverage change till Wednesday.
“The quick reply is: we are going to proceed with our present legal guidelines,” Deputy Tourism Minister Princess Haifa Al Saud mentioned when requested straight in regards to the subject on the 2022 World Financial Discussion board in Davos.
AFP
