The US wants to remove from the list of foreign terrorist organizations the Basque separatist group ETA, the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo, the radical Jewish group Kahane Kach and two Islamist groups that have been active in various territories.

The United States intends to remove five extremist groups from its list of foreign organizations considered terrorists, a decision that is expected to generate criticism in the countries of origin, reported this Sunday the Associated Press (AP) news agency.

Although these groups are inactive, the decision is considered “politically sensitive” for the Biden administration and for the countries in which these organizations operated, namely for the victims’ families.

At stake are the Spanish separatist Basque group ETA, the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo, the radical Jewish group Kahane Kach and two Islamic groups that have been active in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Egypt.

The US State Department said the terrorism designations for the five groups will be formally removed when the determinations are published in the Federal Register, and it is estimated that this could occur within the next week.

The criteria for removing this designation take into account whether these groups “are active have committed terrorist acts within the past five years, or whether maintaining or removing the list would be in the interests of US national security.”

Under the law that created the list, the Secretary of State can remove groups that he considers no longer fit these criteria.

Removing the groups from the list has the immediate effect of revoking a number of sanctions that the appointments entailed, including asset freezes, travel bans, as well as a ban on any American providing its members with any material support.

Source: With Agencies