Egypt’s increasingly authoritarian regime is limiting the sale of Alcohol.  This is ringing alarm bells with Liberals and human rights activists who say the country’s Islamist leaders are creeping in on personal freedoms.  

President Mohamed Morsi’s government tried to hike alcohol taxes in December but was forced to backdown after public outcry.

This time, it’s a bureaucratic agency called the “New Urban Communities Authorities” (NUCA) no longer issuing licenses for the sale of alcohol in new residential settlements on the outskirts of Cairo, Alexandria and other big cities.

NUCA’s claims the sale of alcohol has led to problems, including attacking women and randomly ringing doorbells of people’s homes.  Yep, they put those two very different things in the same sentence.

It’s not just civil libertarians taking note, Egypt’s tourism industry is not happy with any decisions that could limit the influx of visitors whose numbers were already down because of political turmoil.