Saturday, February 28, 2015

Egyptian court declares Hamas a 'terrorist' group. (accused of aiding armed groups who have waged string of deadly attacks in Egypt's Sinai region.)

An Egyptian court has declared Hamas a "terrorist" organisation, weeks after the Palestinian movement's armed wing was given the same designation, reports said.

A judicial source told AFP news agency that the court issued the verdict on Saturday, a ruling seen as keeping with a systematic crackdown on Islamist groups by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.


The verdict resulted from two separate private suits filed by two lawyers against the de facto rulers of the Gaza Strip.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ghazi Hamad, a deputy foreign minister, rejected the court decision as "very dangerous."

"They are now saying that the [Palestinian] resistance and struggle against the occupation is a crime," he said.

Mustafa Barghouti, a senior Palestinian official who is neither from Hamas or Fatah, told Al Jazeera in a separate interview that the verdict "is a very unwise decision" that carries political complication.

"Hamas is part of the Palestinian national unity movement, and this decision is not useful."

  • String of attacks
Saturday's ruling comes just days after Egypt adopted a new anti-terrorism law allowing the authorities to close the premises of any declared "terrorist" organisation, and to freeze its assets as well as those of its members.

The relationship between Egypt's authorities and the Hamas has soured since the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt also banned since the military coup in 2013.

Since then, Egyptian authorities have accused Hamas of aiding armed groups, who have waged a string of deadly attacks on security forces in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

In January, an Egyptian court also declared Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam Brigades a "terrorist" group.

The case was based on allegations that al-Qassam staged attacks to support the Muslim Brotherhood, and carried out deadly operations in the Sinai Peninsula in October 2014, allegations that the group denied.

Armed groups in Sinai have killed scores of policemen and soldiers since Morsi's overthrow, vowing revenge for a crackdown on his supporters that has left more than 1,400 people dead.

  Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
28/2/15
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1 comment :

  1. An Egyptian court's decision to list Hamas as a terrorist organisation is a “big shame that taunts Egypt’s reputation,” a spokesman for the group said on Saturday...

    Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri's comments are the first reaction by Hamas to the Cairo court Saturday ruling designating the de facto rulers of the bordering Gaza strip as a terrorist group.

    “The Egyptian court decision...is shocking, critical and targets the Palestinian people and Palestinian resistance forces,” Abu Zuhri said on his official Facebook page.

    “It reverses the equation, making the occupation a friend and the Palestinian people an enemy.”

    It is a “desperate attempt to export Egypt’s internal crises and will not have any effect on Hamas’s standing among all the sons and leaders of the nation,” Abu Zuhri added.......................http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/124134.aspx
    28/2/15

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