FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM : COURT ANNULS EU FREEZE OF STICHTING AL-AQSA'S FUNDS.

The EU General Court annulled, on 9 September, the Council's counter-terrorism decision to freeze the funds of Stichting Al-Aqsa, an Islamic social assistance foundation established under the laws of the Netherlands that raises funds for organisations in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza (Case T-348/07). Its decision is based on the fact that the Dutch decision that served as the ground for the freeze has been repealed.

Following the attacks on 11 September 2001 and pursuant to an order by the UN Security Council, the 27 member states update every six months their black list' of organisations and individuals suspected of having ties with terrorism, whose financial assets in the EU are frozen.

The case began on 3 April 2003 with the adoption by the Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands of a Sanctieregeling terrorisme 2003', which froze all assets belonging to Stichting Al-Aqsa on the grounds that certain of its transfers were intended for organisations that support terrorism in the Middle East, notably Hamas. On 27 June 2003...