Hamas a ‘terrorist’ group, Egypt court says

CAIRO — A civil court declared Hamas a ‘‘terrorist organization’’ on Saturday, further isolating the rulers of the Gaza Strip who once found a warm welcome under Egypt’s past Islamist government.

The ruling by Judge Mohamed el-Sayed of Cairo’s Court for Urgent Matters described Hamas as targeting both civilians and security forces inside Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, and aiming to harm the country. The Sinai has been under increasing attack by Islamic extremists since the Egyptian military ousted Mohammed Morsi as president in 2013.

‘‘It has been proven without any doubt that the movement has committed acts of sabotage, assassinations, and the killing of innocent civilians and members of the armed forces and police in Egypt,’’ the judge’s ruling said, according to state news agency MENA.

In Gaza, Hamas official Mushir al-Masri condemned the decision and urged Egypt to reverse course. ‘‘This ruling serves the Israeli occupation. It’s a politicized decision that constitutes the beginning of Egypt evading its role toward the Palestinian cause,’’ he said.

The ruling further isolates Hamas, which once found open support under Morsi’s Islamist administration and from his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Egypt’s new government recently started clearing a buffer zone along its border with Gaza, aiming to destroy cross-border tunnels that Hamas considers a lifeline.

On Jan. 31, the Cairo court banned Hamas’ military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and also designated it a terrorist organization.

The ruling said Hamas fighters had used heavy weapons against the army, and was colluding with the Brotherhood.

Comments

First Take: Back to the future — Nasdaq 5000 circa 2015

The once-deflated Nasdaq has fully reflated. For the past 15 years, chatter about Nasdaq 5000 was mainly in the past tense, a historical remnant of the dot-com stock bubble era. But today, for the first time since March 2000, the Nasdaq composite — powered by Apple, the world's most valuable company and maker of the iPhone, and a fresh wave of innovation in social media, digital technology and biotech — is back above 5000 and very much alive in the current events debate. Way back when, on March 9, 2000, when the Internet was in diapers and investors were betting that the World Wide Web would be a moneymaking investment of epic proportions, the Nasdaq and its army of newly minted dot-com stocks skyrocketed to its first close above 5000, up an eye-popping 111% from a year earlier. At the time, "Nasdaq 5000" elicited a 1969 "man on the moon"-type awe from investors ranging from Wall Street titans to taxi drivers and hairdressers who viewed "Net stocks...

GOP Bombs On Homeland Security

In a squishy and unsatisfying resolution that funds Homeland Security for a week, the GOP’s internal tensions bubble to the surface once again. It used to be that Congress was broken, and was forced to repeatedly kick the can down the road. Now it seems that Congress can’t even properly kick the can down the road. At a time of alarming national security threats, the House of Representatives brought the nation to the brink of a government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. On Friday evening, dozens of conservative Republicans revolted against a plan push the deadline back three weeks, joining with Democrats to vote down a simple funding bill to continue the agency’s funding. Conservative Republicans objected because they wanted Congress to rebuke President Obama over his immigration executive action, which they view as an illegal “amnesty.” Democrats protested because they wanted a “clean,” long-term spending bill that would provide certainty for the Department ...

In U.S. visit, Netanyahu warns an Iran deal could threaten Israel's existence

(Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United States on Monday that the nuclear deal it is negotiating with Iran could threaten Israel's survival and insisted he had a "moral obligation" to speak up about deep differences with President Barack Obama on the issue. Even as he set the stage for a Washington visit that has strained U.S.-Israeli relations, Netanyahu sought to lower the temperature ahead of his controversial address to Congress on Tuesday, saying he meant no disrespect for Obama and appreciated U.S. military and diplomatic support for Israel. Netanyahu left little doubt, however, about his objections to ongoing talks between Iran and world powers, which he said would allow Tehran to become a nuclear-armed state. "As prime minister of Israel, I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there’s still time to avert them," Netanyahu told a cheering audience at the annual con...

News420

Search This Blog