EU court strikes Hamas from terror blacklist

LUXEMBOURG

The Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas must be removed from the EU's terrorism blacklist, but its assets will stay frozen for the time being, a European court ruled on Wednesday.

The original listing in 2001 was based not on sound legal judgements but on conclusions derived from the media and the Internet, the General Court of the European Union said in a statement.

But it stressed that Wednesday's decision to remove Hamas was based on technical grounds and does "not imply any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of Hamas as a terrorist group."

The freeze on Hamas's funds will also temporarily remain in place for three months pending any appeal by the EU, the Luxembourg-based court said.

Hamas, which has been in power in the Palestinian territory of Gaza since 2007, had appealed against its inclusion on the blacklist on several grounds.

Hamas's military wing was added to the European Union's first-ever terrorism blacklist drawn up in December 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The EU blacklisted the political wing of Hamas in 2003.

"The General Court finds that the contested measures are based not on acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities but on factual imputations derived from the press and the Internet," the court said.

Instead, such an action had to be based on facts previously established by competent authorities.

HAVE BEEN ANNULLED

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers were removed from the list in October after an almost identical judgement.

The lawyer for Hamas, Liliane Glock, told AFP she was "satisfied with the decision".

"Every decision since 2001 imposing restrictive measures, including on the armed wing, have been annulled. I believe that this judgement shows the whole world that it exists and is legal," Glock said.

The lawyer added that the court's decision also showed that the EU could not base its decision on the US terror list, although there was no mention of that list in the court's judgement.

Hamas was founded in 1987 shortly after the start of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, and was inspired by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

There is a growing impatience in Europe over the failure to make progress in the Middle East peace talks.

With the peace process stalled, the Palestinians on Wednesday will push on with a draft UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation.

THIS IS VICTORY

Hamas on Wednesday hailed a European court decision to remove the Palestinian Islamist group from the EU's terrorism blacklist, describing the move as a "victory".

"This is a victory for the Palestinian question and for the rights of our people," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP.

"We thank the European court for this positive decision which must be followed by international steps to lift the oppression of the Palestinian people."

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday demanded the EU immediately restore Hamas to its terrorism blacklist, after a European court ordered the Palestinian Islamist group's removal.

"We are not satisfied with the European Union's explanation that the removal of Hamas from its list of terrorist organisations is a 'technical matter'," Netanyahu said in a statement.

"We expect it (the EU) to put Hamas back on the list forthwith given that it is understood by all that Hamas — a murderous terrorist organisation, the covenant of which specifies the destruction of Israel as its goal — is an inseparable part of this list," he said.