BERLIN, 27 July 2003 — The German government’s legal attempt to ban a group from raising funds for the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement and the families of bombers “lacks firm evidence”, according to a published report. The report in Focus magazine, scheduled to hit newsstands across Germany tomorrow, quotes legal sources close to the case as saying the government has come up with only “flimsy” evidence that the German-based group comprises a threat to national security.
The report prompted Germany’s Interior Ministry to issue a rare statement. The ministry statement said the government case against the group “is based on solid evidence which will stand up in court”. Even so, the ministry suffered a setback on Wednesday when court in Germany effectively lifted the government’s ban.
The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, in handing down the ruling, said the Al-Aqsa group must be allowed to continue its fund-raising activities until its legal status is finally determined.
Meanwhile, half of all Germans are unable to identify Gerhard Schroeder as the nation’s chancellor, according to results of a new online poll. The poll by the respected Forsa institute showed that, while 99 percent of those surveyed were able to identify Schroeder’s photograph, only 51 percent were able to correctly state what governmental post he holds.
Forsa said the findings were based on a representative sample of 1,630 Germans using interactive digital television control pads. The new technique, pioneered in the United States, is seen as a far more accurate means of judging public opinion than the traditional method using phone calls to respondents - who are often not at home. “The results may be shocking,” said Forsa head Manfred Guellner. “But we are convinced they are far more accurate than anything we have obtained before.”
