A court in the European Union has ordered Hamas off the terrorist list based on a technicality.
At the same time, the court stipulated that the EU can still freeze assets against Hamas, The Associated Press reported.
The court said the terrorist listing was based only on Internet and media reports about Hamas — and not on “acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities,” AP said. So the court decided that the group could not stay on the list.
Court authorities say they don’t mean to rule that Hamas isn’t a terrorist group.
Instead, they say their ruling was simply procedural and does not “imply any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of Hamas as a terrorist group,” AP said.
The freeze on assets was ordered to stay in place for three months, giving the EU enough time to find substantive cause to cite reasons other than press accounts for reinstating Hamas to the terror list.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.