CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Saturday branded the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas a "terrorist" organisation, a judicial source said, after it was alleged to have links with militants behind deadly Sinai attacks.
From Gaza City, Hamas reacted by condemning what it called "a great disgrace which soils the reputation of Egypt".
Since Egypt's military ousted Islamist president Mohammad Mursi in 2013, the authorities have accused Hamas of aiding militants who have waged a string of deadly attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt blames Hamas, which is close to Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, of supporting the blacklisted Egyptian movement.
An Egyptian court on January 31 banned the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, declaring it a "terrorist" group.
In March last year, Egypt banned Hamas from carrying out any activities on its soil and froze the assets of the Islamist movement which controls the neighbouring Gaza Strip.
