Hamas welcomes Egyptian court decision to overturn ruling on terror listing

Hamas welcomed the decision by an Egyptian appeals court on Saturday to cancel a ruling to list the Palestinian group as a terrorist organization.

Hamas said the decision by Egypt, which faces an Islamist insurgency it says is fueled by weapons smuggled from Gaza, would help relations with Cairo.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri praised Saturday's decision as "correcting a previous mistake."

"The decision today represents a commitment by Cairo to its strong role towards the Palestinian cause. There is no doubt that (it) will have positive results and impacts on the relation between Hamas and Cairo," he told Reuters.
Jpost.com Staff contributed to this report.
  jpost.com
6/6/15
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• Hamas welcomes Cairo court verdict annulling terrorist designation verdict...

 The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has welcomed the overturning of a verdict designating them a terrorist organisation by a Cairo court, saying in a statement released Saturday that the ruling is "a correction of a previous mistake."
The Appeal Court for Urgent Matters said Saturday that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to issue its original verdict.

On 28 February, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters ruled Hamas a terrorist organisation, a month after the group's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, was also designated a terror group by the same court.

Hamas has been the de-facto ruler of the Israeli Gaza Strip since 2006 after winning parliamentary elections.

Relations between Cairo and Hamas have soured since the ouster of Hamas's Islamist ally Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Cairo has accused Hamas of supporting militant groups which are waging an insurgency against the government in the Sinai peninsula.

In January, a court declared Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, a terrorist organisation.

In May, Cairo Criminal Court handed preliminary death sentences to a number of Hamas members, mostly in absentia, in the trial known as the Wadi Al-Natroun jailbreak case.
The Hamas members were convicted, along with ousted president Mohamed Morsi, of damaging and setting fire to prison buildings, murder, attempted murder, looting prison weapons depots, and releasing prisoners in 2011.

Hamas, which has repeatedly denied interfering in Egypt's domestic affairs, condemned previous verdicts against its members in Egyptian courts.

On Saturday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that the ruling represents confirmation of Cairo's commitment to its Arab national duty towards the Palestinian issue.
Abu Zuhri predicted that the latest court decision will strengthen the relationship between Hamas and Cairo.
  ahram.org.eg
6/6/15
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Related:

• Egyptian drops lawsuit to declare Hamas 'terrorist group'(27/3/15)

• Hamas denounces EU decision to keep it on terror list

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• Egyptian government challenges Hamas terrorist ruling. Hamas has praised the decision of the Egyptian government to appeal against ...

• Egypt vows to arrest Hamas members on its soil

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• Hamas says blacklisting it as terrorist makes Egypt unfit as mediator 

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

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