The Federal Court of Appeal set aside an order by the federal cabinet yesterday which had stripped Helmut Oberlander of his Canadian citizenship.

The unanimous decision restores the citizenship of Mr. Oberlander, 80, a retired Waterloo, Ont., developer who lost his citizenship in 2001 after a court found he lied about serving as an interpreter for a Nazi death squad when he emigrated from Germany in the 1950s.

His lawyer, Eric Hafemann, said the government could still try to take leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, or the minister of citizenship could try to strip Mr. Oberlander of his citizenship again. But Mr. Hafemann said he doubts they'll do that, and added he thinks Mr. Oberlander's lengthy fight through the courts could be over.