Speaker hits Al-Aqsa raids

‘Israeli peace calls false’

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 13, (Agencies): Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim has labelled Israel’s ongoing raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque “brutal,” saying the latest assault once again demonstrates that the “occupational entity’s calls for peace are false.”

Several Palestinian worshippers were injured on Sunday after being attacked by Israeli police, who were guarding 450 Israeli settlers as they reportedly broke into the mosque on the first day of the Islamic Eid Al-Adha festival.

“It is utterly woeful and shameful to leave Jerusalemites facing their enemy alone, without any support or backing,” the chief lawmaker said in a statement.

He urged the need for comprehensive Arab, Islamic and global action across political, human rights and cultural forums worldwide to put pressure on an “occupational entity that knows only the logic of oppression and power.”

“If our military conditions are unfavourable, this does not prevent daily action on the political, cultural and human rights spectrums,” he added.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmad Abul-Gheit decried on Sunday the attack by Jewish settlers and militants on Al-Aqsa mosque during Eid Al-Adha prayers.

“The incident that happened under eyes of the occupation troops and with their insinuation is in line with a continuing Israeli policy aimed at normalizing the Jewish presence in the compound of the mosque and trimming the Muslims’ presence even during the blessed days during which the Eid rituals and prayers are held,” Abul-Gheit said in a statement.

He held the Israeli government responsible for the systematic and dangerous escalation for sake of appeasing the militants, noting that such “a reckless and barbaric policy foments fanaticism in the region and threatens to touch off a religious strife in Jerusalem.”

The Palestinian Presidency condemned Israeli troops’ attack on Al-Aqsa mosque during Eid Al-Adha’s prayers.

The presidency spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudainah, said in a statement that the Israeli government was responsible for the attack on the mosque and the faithful, warning that such an act would aggravate tension and threaten to “bring the region back to the square of violence.”

Abu Rudainah added that President Mahmoud Abbas held contacts “with all the parties to halt the dangerous Israeli escalation against the Palestinian people and their sanctities.”

He added that the president called for “urgent Arab and international intervention to deter the aggression and Israeli arrogance.”

Palestinian medics said at least 14 people were wounded, one seriously, in the skirmishes with police at the site, which Muslims refer to as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Jews refer to as the Temple Mount. Police said at least four officers were wounded. Witnesses said at least two people were arrested.

Clouds of tear-gas swirled and stun grenades thundered across the stone-paved esplanade as masses of worshippers skirmished with police in the worst bout of fighting at the contested holy site in months.

The clashes came amid heightened tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, just days after an Israeli soldier was killed south of Jerusalem. On Saturday, Israeli troops killed four Palestinian militants who attempted to cross the Gaza border fence.

Attacks through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication or SWIFT system used to transfer money between banks, “with bank employee computers and infrastructure accessed to send fraudulent messages and destroy evidence.”

Theft of cryptocurrency “through attacks on both exchanges and users.”

And “mining of cryptocurrency as a source of funds for a professional branch of the military.”

The experts stressed that implementing these increasingly sophisticated attacks “is low risk and high yield,” often requiring just a laptop computer and access to the internet.

The report to the Security Council gives details on some of the North Korean cyberattacks as well as the country’s successful efforts to evade sanctions on coal exports in addition to imports of refined petroleum products and luxury items including Mercedes Benz S-600 cars.

One Mercedes Maybach SClass limousine and other S600s, as well as a Toyota Land Cruiser, were transferred from North Korea to Vietnam for last February’s summit between the country’s leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, the experts said, adding that Vietnam said it asked for but was never provided a list of vehicles being brought into the country.

The panel also said it obtained information that the Taesong Department Store in Pyongyang, which reopened in April and is selling luxury goods, is part of the Taesong Group which includes two entities under UN sanctions and was previously linked to procurement for North Korea’s ballistic missile programs.

The panel recommended sanctions against six North Korean vessels for evading sanctions and illegally carrying out shipto-ship transfers of refined petroleum products.

Under UN sanctions, North Korea is limited to importing 500,000 barrels of such products annually including gasoline and diesel. The US and 25 other countries said North Korea exceeded the limit in the first four months of 2019.

The panel also recommended sanctions against the captain, owner, and parent company of the North Korean-flagged Wise Honest, which was detained by Indonesia in April 2018 with an illegal shipment of coal.

As for North Korea’s military cooperation with other countries, the experts said Iran rejected an unnamed country’s allegation that two North Korean entities under sanctions maintained offices in Iran – the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation known as KOMID, which is the country’s primary arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons, and Saeng Pil Company.

The experts said they have requested information from Rwanda on a report that North Koreans are conducting special forces training at a military camp in Gabiro. And they said they are also waiting for a response from Uganda “to multiple inquires” about reports indicating specialized training is being conducted in the country, and KOMID and North Korean workers maintain a presence.

As examples of North Korean cyberattacks, the panel said hackers in one unnamed country accessed the infrastructure managing its entire ATM system and installed malware modifying the way transactions are processed. As a result, it forced 10,000 cash distributions to individuals working for or on behalf of North Korea “across more than 20 countries in five hours.”