By Kinda Makieh and Firas Makdesi
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – A violent armed raid on a Damascus nightclub last week has fuelled fears of a threat to nightlife in the Syrian capital, despite condemnation by the Islamist-led authorities.
The new rulers have pledged to rule inclusively for all Syria’s diverse religious and ethnic groups, but the challenges are becoming more evident, most especially since the killing in March of hundreds of members of the Alawite Muslim sect.
The Interior Ministry said it had arrested “military elements” involved in the assault, partially captured on security camera footage, which shows people being hit with rifle butts outside the club. It was pursuing others.
Under Bashar al-Assad’s rule, numerous bars operated in Damascus, though few were officially licensed to sell alcohol, their owners paying bribes to do so.
Since he was toppled as president last December by Islamist insurgents, many bars have continued operating.
But owners have told Reuters they have struggled to secure permission to import alcohol, and some have stopped serving it.
The owner of another Damascus venue, who declined to be identified for security reasons, said last week’s incident, and an unexplained one in which a woman was killed at another club at the weekend, had led other bars to close.
“We are certainly afraid to open,” he said.
The security camera footage shows around two dozen armed men walking down an alley towards the club, Layali al-Sharq.
People are then seen running away as armed men stand in the alley striking them. A woman in a red dress is shoved violently into a parked motorcycle.
Reuters was able to confirm the location of the footage from the signage, floor and shops, which matched archive images.
Although Islam forbids the consumption of alcohol, as an intoxicant, the new Islamist-led authorities have not issued any laws or orders pertaining to it.
Nevertheless, a temporary constitution approved in March upgraded the role of Islamic law in shaping legislation.
Asked in a BBC interview in December about his view on alcohol, interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa said there were many issues he did not have the right to talk about because they were of a legal nature.
Bashar Mekki, the bar’s lawyer, said government officials had urged it to reopen. He said it would do so once damage was repaired, noting that it has an official licence.
In written answers to Reuters’ questions, he thanked government officials for “sparing no effort” to resolve the incident, which he said occurred on April 29, and to recover stolen property.
The Interior Ministry said that “any transgression or assault against citizens or public facilities will be met with strict legal measures”.
(Additional reporting by Aaron McNicholas in London; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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