EGYPTIAN DROPS LAWSUIT TO DECLARE HAMAS ‘TERRORIST GROUP’

Cairo, 8 Jumadil Akhir 1436/28 March 2015 (MINA) – An Egyptian lawyer withdrew on Friday his lawsuit against Hamas, a resistance movement in Gaza.

Samir Sabry had hailed the February verdict against Hamas, but on Friday said he would drop the suit so that the verdict would not be “an obstacle to Egypt’s reconciliation efforts” between Palestinian factions and Israel.

Sabry’s case withdrawal doesn’t automatically cancel the verdict, which was based on two separate suits filed by Sabry and another lawyer, Ashraf Said, Ahram quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Cairo Appeal Court for Urgent Matters will decide on the matter on Saturday.

Following Sabry’s withdrawal, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri welcomed the move on his official Facebook account.

“This is an important development…that preserves the Egyptian’s national role towards the Palestinian cause,” Abu Zuhri said.

In January, another court verdict also declared Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, ‘a terrorist organisation’.

The court reasoning in both verdicts accused that Hamas and Al-Qassam Brigades “support and finance terrorist attacks in Egypt.”

Egypt has accused Hamas of meddling in its internal affairs and supporting militants insurgents in Sinai, which Hamas strong denies.(T/R04/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)