Iraq starts enforcing 2016 ban on alcoholic beverages -document

FILE PHOTO-A liquor store owner checks bottles of alcohol at his store in the town of Qaraqosh, south of Mosul, Iraq, July 18, 2017. Picture taken July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has begun enforcing a 2016 ban on alcoholic beverages, an official document showed, a move some Iraqis attribute to the growing clout of Islamic religious parties that they fear is threatening social freedoms.

Enforcement took effect when the law was published in Iraq's official gazette on Feb. 20, seven years after its passage by parliament. No official reason for the delay has been given, but analysts said religious parties exert more influence in the current coalition government than recent predecessors.