CAIRO: An Egyptian court has ruled that activities by the Palestinian militant group Hamas should be banned in Egypt, branding it a terrorist organisation.
The court also ordered that Hamas offices in the country be shut down and all dealings with the group suspended.
Egypt’s relations with Hamas have sharply deteriorated since the military removed President Mohamed Morsi in July.
Hamas, which rules the neighbouring Gaza Strip, is the Palestinian offshoot of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
When in power Morsi gave red-carpet treatment to Hamas, angering many secular and liberal Egyptians who saw this as part of a creeping Islamist takeover following the pro-democracy uprising of 2011.
Morsi and scores of Brotherhood leaders are in detention, facing trials on charges that carry the death penalty.
Two of those cases involve Hamas members, accused of assisting Morsi and others in escaping from prison in 2011.
Morsi and others are also charged in a separate trial of leaking state secrets to Hamas.
Meanwhile, Hamas has condemned the ruling.
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