“Customers buy alcohol and hide it under their car seats, in the boot or they’ll bring in a jerry can and fill it up.”
December 8, 2007 8:26 am Mahdi Army 
The men emerged from behind the shop’s metal grille clutching black plastic bags, or with pockets bulging, eyes peeled for the enforcers of Islamic law.
They hurried with their precious, clanking cargo to waiting cars or quickly flagged down taxis. It may be furtive but, for the first time in years, alcohol is being sold openly again on the streets of Baghdad.
With security slowly improving in the city centre Iraqis are returning to a long-forgotten pastime — drinking. In the days when the Mahdi Army, the deadly guardians of Muslim morality, roamed central Baghdad at will, many alcohol vendors had their shops blown up and their colleagues kidnapped and murdered.
There is still much nervousness involved in selling liquor. With unemployment high, though, and a thirsty clientele in dire need of a drink to calm its blast-shattered nerves, vendors are once again risking all to sell liquid relaxation.“Yes, we are still afraid,” said Murad Abdul, the owner of a shop in Karrada, a middle class area where Christians live alongside wealthy Shia, long the area with the most off licences. A few months ago there were none that dared open, and buying alcohol meant knowing the right people.
Mr Abdul has reason to be afraid. He was kidnapped from his shop by the Mahdi Army in April 2006. They demanded a hefty ransom. His family did not have the money but managed to borrow £6,000.