Stockholm - A Swedish district court Tuesday cleared a Swedish man charged with violating a ban against raising funds to organizations linked to the radical Islamic movement Hamas.

Khalid al-Yousef, was charged as head of the local al-Aqsa Grain Foundation described as the Swedish branch of the al-Aqsa Foundation. According to its own estimates it has raised some 4 million kronor (478,000 dollars).

Prosecutor Agneta Hilding Qvarnstrom who brought the charges said the European Union has classified Hamas as a terrorist organization and it did not matter if the funds were aimed for charity as al-Yousef maintained, since the EU has imposed a ban against funding Hamas.

Al-Yousef, 44, who has Palestinian roots, told reporters he had been certain of winning the case. The trial was held in the southern city of Malmo.

His defence lawyer, Danish national Laue Traberg Smidt, said it was likely the prosecutor would appeal.

In 2003, authorities in the United States alleged that the al-Aqsa Foundation funded terrorist operations. (dpa)