Audio By VocalizeA bartender prepares a drink at a pub in Old Damascus' Bab Sharqi neighbourhood on March 28, 2025. [AFP]Hundreds of Syrians protested in central Damascus on Sunday against new restrictions on alcohol sales, reflecting wider fears that the Islamist authorities may tighten curbs on personal freedoms. The Syrian capital last week banned the sale of alcoholic beverages in restaurants and bars, only allowing stores in three Christian neighbourhoods to sell bottles. "This type of decision will not stand," 37-year-old television writer Rami Koussa told AFP at the protest. These moves have fuelled fears of creeping social conservatism since the Islamist authorities took over after the 2024 fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Source: Standard Digital March 22, 2026 17:00 UTC