By most accounts, Sameer got off easy — the 42-year-old Christian liquor merchant received only a warning from the masked men who waved Kalashnikov rifles in his face and trashed his house in search of booze. Others weren’t as lucky. Abid Slewa was shot in the head as he unlocked the front door of his liquor store. Bashir Elias, caught selling alcohol from the back of his car, was shot to death Christmas Eve on a street crowded with cheering onlookers. Basra’s leading Shiite clerics deny any involvement in the killings. But they do acknowledge that their supporters have been warning people not to buy, drink or sell alcohol, which is banned under Islam. "These liquor shop owners, we talk to them and tell them that by selling alcohol they are injuring the whole community, bringing shame on all of us," said Sheik Abu Salaam, the Basra representative of hard-line cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
| Moqtada's position is that if Muslims can't do it, nobody can do it... |
Under Islamic law, repeat offenders eventually would be put to death, he said. Besides the murders, dozens of liquor stores owned by Christians have been torched in recent months. Women in Basra say they have been admonished by angry men for leaving home without a headscarf. "If I leave my house with my head bare, people shout at me — they yell ’whore,’" said Aida Wahid, a 41-year Christian who owns a beauty salon. Men tell of being stopped at intersections by gangs of Islamic activists and ordered to shut off music.
Islam, the religion of peace and tolerance.
| That's life in the Third World, where somebody else always knows what's best for you. |
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