European Union foreign ministers on Saturday denounced the political wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization following the group’s claim of responsibility for a truce-shattering bomb attack in Jerusalem. The decision, long sought by both Israel and the United States, opens the way for Europe to freeze the group’s assets and place its leaders on a terrorist blacklist. “A consensus emerged to decide on putting Hamas on the list of terrorist organizations,” French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters, dropping France’s earlier objections to outlawing the Palestinian militant movement. Hamas’s political branches incurred the EU’s wrath after they said they were behind an August 19 suicide bombing that killed 22 Israelis and pushed the Middle East’s precarious peace process to the verge of collapse. A group of EU intelligence experts will start work on Monday to determine what action should be taken against Hamas. Full Story
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