DAMASCUS \u2013 Crowds of Syrians rallied Sunday to protest authorities’ efforts to limit the sale and consumption of alcohol in Damascus, reflecting rising anxiety in the cosmopolitan capital that Syria\u2019s new Islamist government may threaten long-held secular freedoms. <\/p>\n
Hundreds of residents from a range of religious sects poured into a grassy square in Bab Touma, a Christian neighborhood in Damascus, chanting \u201cSyrians are united!\u201d and brandishing signs that urged the government to safeguard personal liberties and religious minorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not about whether we want to drink alcohol, this is about personal freedom,\u201d said Isa Qazah, a 45-year-old sculptor from the area who joined the protest along the medieval stone lanes near Damascus’ Old City. “We have come here to defend an idea.” <\/p>\n
Heavily armed security forces surrounded the protesters. The demonstration passed without incident. <\/p>\n
The controversy erupted last week, when the governor of Damascus issued a decree banning “the provision of alcoholic beverages of all kinds in restaurants and nightclubs” across the capital. Within three months, it says, restaurants must have tossed out their wine lists and bar and club owners must have traded their licenses for cafe permits. <\/p>\n
The decision, which authorities said was made \u201cat the request of the local community,\u201d came as the interim government of former Islamist rebel and now President Ahmed al-Sharaa<\/a> faces growing pressure from hard-liners to impose more conservative religious values. Al-Sharaa has not publicly weighed in on the alcohol debate. <\/p>\n More than a year after his movement ousted former President Bashar Assad<\/a>, Syria is still reeling from 14 years of civil war<\/a> and five decades of dictatorship as it struggles to define its future<\/a>. <\/p>\n A member of the Alawite religious minority<\/a>, Assad espoused a secular ideology to retain the support of fellow minorities<\/a> in the Sunni-majority nation. Under his family dynasty, Syrians had little<\/a> in the way of civic or political freedoms. But they could drink alcohol, party at nightclubs and dress how they pleased. <\/p>\n After being named the interim president<\/a>, al-Sharaa vowed to unite the country and respect pluralism<\/a>. He has so far tread lightly when it comes to imposing social restrictions. Yet Syria\u2019s many religious and ethnic groups remain on edge<\/a>. <\/p>\n Sectarian attacks<\/a> by pro-government Sunni fighters have killed hundreds of Alawites<\/a> and Druze<\/a> over the past year. <\/p>\n Concerns over fresh violence <\/p>\n