Still Brewing in a Dry Land: Pakistan's Only Beer and Whisky Firm
THE INDEPENDENT: After 150 years, business is booming at Pakistan's only beer and whisky firm. Andrew Buncombe finds out why
An employee of the Murree brewery, which has ambitions to export its beer to Britain. Photo: The Independent
On the walls of the historic Murree brewery, Pakistan's sole producer of beer, hangs a slogan that its owners would wish upon the entire country. "Eat, drink and be Murree," puns the poster, seemingly produced in the 1970s.
Understandably, making beer and whiskey in a Muslim country, where 97 per cent of the population is officially banned from enjoying your products, has never been an easy business. Non-Muslims are exempt from the ban, but even for them obtaining a drink can be complicated: some five-star hotels require foreigners to affirm in writing that they are non-Muslims and will be responsible for anything that happens when they are under the influence before they can order a drink.
And amid the upsurge of militant violence of the last two years that has seen the Taliban attacking targets across the country, setting fire to girls' schools and even banning the sale of videos and DVDs, common sense might suggest that the fortunes of this establishment, which celebrates its 150th anniversary next year, might be on the wane. Yet the opposite is happening: sales are booming – embarrassingly so.
"Sales are good," said Isphanyar Bhandara, the brewery's 36-year-old chief executive, "but we don't want to shout about it because that also brings negative publicity and criticism, because this is a Muslim country – and yet sales are growing." >>> Andrew Buncombe | Thursday, November 05, 2009
President Obama’s arrival in Saudi Arabia today marks the first leg of a landmark Middle East visit to reach Muslims and mend ties damaged under the eight-year Administration of his predecessor, George Bush.
The three-day visit, including an address to the Muslim world at Cairo University tomorrow, is seen as a vital step in his efforts to relaunch peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.
Mr Obama has signalled that he will take a more even-handed approach than Mr Bush, who gave Israel a free hand to expand the growth of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has bridled at US demands that it should freeze all construction in the settlements and East Jerusalem. Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, flew to Washington last night to lobby the US President one more time. Israel says that the half million Jews who live in the territories cannot be prevented from having children, marrying or building houses.At the outset of his trip Mr Obama issued his sternest warning yet to Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister. “I believe that strategically the status quo is unsustainable when it comes to Israel’s security,” Mr Obama said in an interview with the US broadcaster NPR.
“Over time, in the absence of peace with Palestinians, Israel will continue to be threatened militarily and will have enormous problems on its borders.”
He said that the sobering message to Israel was meant as a friendly warning. “Part of being a good friend is being honest,” said the President, who held talks with Mr Netanyahu last month at the White House. Mr Netanyahu has refused to accept the idea of an independent Palestinian state, which Washington sees as a cornerstone of Middle East peace. >>> James Hider in Cairo | Wednesday, June 03, 2009
THE NEW YORK TIMES BLOGS – THE CAUCUS: Obama Says U.S. Could Be Seen as a Muslim Country, Too
HAHN, Germany — As President Obama prepared to leave Washington to fly to the Middle East, he conducted several television and radio interviews at the White House to frame the goals for a five-day trip, including the highly-anticipated speech Thursday at Cairo University in Egypt.
In an interview with Laura Haim on Canal Plus, a French television station, Mr. Obama noted that the United States also could be considered as “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.” He sought to downplay the expectations of the speech, but he said he hoped the address would raise awareness about Muslims.
“Now, I think it’s very important to understand that one speech is not going to solve all the problems in the Middle East,” Mr. Obama said. “And so I think expectations should be somewhat modest.”
He previewed several themes and objectives for the speech, which aides said the president intended to tinker with — and rewrite — aboard Air Force One during his 12-hour flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“What I want to do is to create a better dialogue so that the Muslim world understands more effectively how the United States, but also how the West thinks about many of these difficult issues like terrorism, like democracy, to discuss the framework for what’s happened in Iraq and Afghanistan and our outreach to Iran, and also how we view the prospects for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” Mr. Obama said.
The president said the United States and other parts of the Western world “have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam.”
“And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world,” Mr. Obama said. “And so there’s got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples.” >>> By Jeff Zeleny | Tuesday, June 02, 2009
LE FIGARO: Obama en campagne dans le monde arabe
Un commerçant du Caire a présenté lundi une plaque souvenir qualifiant Barack Obama de «nouveau Toutankhamon du monde». Crédits photo : Le Figaro
Le président américain amorce mercredi soir en Arabie saoudite une tournée qui sera marquée par un grand discours, jeudi au Caire, en direction des musulmans.
C'est une «conversation» peu ordinaire qui va s'engager cette semaine entre l'homme le plus puissant de la planète et plus d'un milliard de musulmans. Depuis l'époque de sa campagne électorale, Barack Hussein Obama, chrétien, métis, mais fils d'un musulman du Kenya, a lentement mûri le projet de s'adresser aux peuples d'islam pour regagner leur cœur et entreprendre de tisser une nouvelle relation entre eux et l'Amérique, après des années de frustrations et d'incompréhension.
L'heure est venue. Jeudi, entre les murs accablés de chaleur de l'université du Caire, qui le reçoit avec la participation de l'université islamique al-Azhar, puissance co-invitante, le président Obama prononcera un discours très attendu à l'attention des opinions publiques musulmanes, avant de gagner l'Europe pour des visites du souvenir hautement symboliques au camp de Buchenwald en Allemagne, puis au cimetière de Colleville en Normandie. Il veut effacer le grand malentendu de l'époque de l'administration précédente qui en était venue à confondre trop souvent islam et terrorisme islamiste. Il a toujours pensé que le choc des civilisations n'est pas inéluctable. Il l'a déjà dit lors de son discours d'investiture, puis dans une interview à la chaîne al-Arabya et dans son adresse devant le Parlement turc en avril. Il va le répéter haut et fort pour tenter d'apaiser cette haine de l'Occident qui agite le Moyen-Orient, notamment sa jeunesse, cible privilégiée de son appel au dialogue. «Obama veut convaincre la rue musulmane que l'Amérique a changé, il estime que le terrorisme islamique est une question cruciale pour la sécurité nationale, qui va bien au-delà de la question du conflit israélo-palestinien», décrypte un diplomate français. >>> Laure Mandeville, Envoyé spéciale du Figaro à Riyad | Mardi 02 Juin 2009
