US media is reporting that an Egyptian court has nullified a recent court ruling designating Hamas as a terrorist organization. According to the International Business Times report:
March 27, 2015 A recent Egyptian court ruling that had designated the Palestinian Hamas movement a ‘terrorist organization’ was annulled Thursday. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri welcomed the annulment as ‘an important step in the right direction’ in stabilizing relations with Egypt, according to World Bulletin News in Istanbul.
Last month, an Egyptian court deemed Hamas — the Palestinian militant Islamist organization that controls the neighboring Gaza Strip — a ‘terrorist’ group and banned their activities, due to claims that Hamas had orchestrated attacks in Egypt via tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border that link the Sinai Peninsula to the blockaded coastal strip. Abu Zuhri denounced the court’s decision at the time and said it ‘is shocking, critical and targets the Palestinian people and Palestinian resistance forces,’ according to Al Jazeera.
But the ruling was rendered invalid Thursday after Egyptian lawyer Samir Sabri, who had filed the lawsuit, withdrew the case, just weeks after the Egyptian government said it would appeal the verdict. Sabri said he decided to withdraw the case to remove ‘obstacles which Egypt’s political leadership might face in serving its role in the Palestinian reconciliation,’ according to World Bulletin News.
Abu Zuhri praised the withdrawal of the case Friday and hailed the ruling’s annulment. ‘We are hoping the decision would lead to more stable relations with Egypt,’ he told the Anadolu Agency in Cairo on Friday.”
Read the rest here.
Meanwhile, a Hamas spokesman welcomed the annulment and described the move as “an important step in the right direction.”
The GMBDW reported earlier this month on the Egyptian court ruling that the political wing of Hamas is a terrorist organization. We reported in February on the ruling banning Hamas armed wing. It is not clear which of these rulings was the one that had been annulled.
The Hamas charter says that it is “one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine”