TERRORISM

SIR UMAIR HASSAN

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Introduction/Background
Root Cause
The government enacted laws to ban extremist and militant
groups that organized or participated in acts of violence in

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and outside the country. After 9/11 Pakistan became a

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frontline state in the 'war on terrorism', and intensified its
pursuit of foreign militants. Many of them were brought

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by the CIA to assist the Afghan Mujahedeen in their
liberation struggle, but continued to reside in the

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mountainous terrain of the tribal areas and later
participated in the civil war in Afghanistan. Members of
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extremist movements in their countries of origin and
terrorists, they were led by Osama bin Laden
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Action By Pakistan
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In 2003, Pakistan deployed over seventy thousand armed

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forces personnel in the border areas adjoining Afghanistan

to ferret out the foreign extremists and their local
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supporters, incurring heavy costs in lives during the

protracted campaign (over 300 killed by mid-2005, a
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number much higher than the casualties suffered by the

international Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan)
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Terrorism Misused
The events of 9/11 marked what Secretary General Kofi
Annan called a 'seismic shift in international relations.'
Some states began to use the label of terrorism 'to
demonize political opponents, to throttle the freedom of
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speech and the press, and to de-legitimize political
grievances...States living in tension with their neighbors
make opportunistic use of the fight against terrorism to
threaten or justify new military action on long- running
disputes

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INDIAN ATTROCITIES AGAINT KASHMIRIS

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Ironically, some nations that justified resorting to violence

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against the ruling powers during their own freedom
struggle, condemned the same means when others under

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their yoke took to militant struggle. Such a striking
contradiction characterized the Indian stance. When
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pro-independence revolutionary Bhagat Singh was hanged
for assassinating a British police officer in 1928, and for
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throwing a bomb into the colonial Central Assembly

building in New Delhi in 1930, the Indian National
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Congress described him as a 'great martyr', and seventy

years later the Indian government issued a postage stamp to
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honor him as a national hero; purblind to the irony, it

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described the Kashmiris who attacked the Indian

parliament building as terrorists.
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UN CONVENTIONS OVERLOOKED
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The Universal Human Rights Declaration, two human

rights conventions, and covenants on crimes against
humanity, war crimes and genocide, have not restrained
states from suppressing popular protests for freedom and
other human rights, allowing their agencies to terrorize
people by resort to indiscriminate violence, torture, custodial
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killings, destruction of homes and businesses, molestation
and rape, and thus driving people to despondency and
desperation to the point that even death seems preferable to
life.

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Terrorism By Isreal

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Oppressive policies of states against people have historically
been a main generator of terrorism. No state has contributed

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more than Israel to the generation of suffering and outrage
among Muslims in recent history. As Ken Livingstone,
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Mayor of London has said: 'Israel's expansion has included
ethnic cleansing. Palestinians who had lived in that land for
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centuries were driven out by systematic violence and

terrorism.More than 7,000 Palestinians were in Israel's jails.
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SUPPORT OF US FOR ISREAL

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Since its birth, Israel has enjoyed the strong support of the
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Western countries with influential domestic Zionist lobbies.

The United States has provided large budgetary support,
allowed tax exemption for private donations, facilitated
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market access, supplied the latest military weapons, and

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abused its veto power in the Security Council to shield

Israel from resolutions condemning its actions, thus
emboldening the Jewish state to persist in its iniquitous
policies in flagrant violation of international law and the
human rights of the Palestinian people.
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Islam Targeted
As the Soviet Union collapsed, Zionist political
intellectuals, and lobbyists in the United States substituted
Islam in place of communism as the new threat to the West,

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insidiously stoking prejudices rooted in medieval crusades to
plant seeds of Islamophobia.

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Even though the perpetrators of the 9/11 outrage were not

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religious men and their motivations were political, the
anti-Islamic activists exploited the crime to stoke

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anti-Islamic hysteria. H
The projection of Islam as an enemy of the West was a
preposterous fabrication
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UN Secretary General Kofi Annan decried 'the distortion

of Islam by a wicked few' and urged the vital need to
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expose 'those who wrongly claim that Islam justifies the

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callous murder of innocents to give this rich and ancient

faith a bad name
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Muslims Victimized.
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Politically motivated acts of militancy and violence, by an

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extremist fringe among Muslims, unleashed a wave of

Islamophobia in countries with significant Muslim
immigrant populations, especially the United States, France,
Germany, and the Netherlands. Muslim citizens, residents
and visitors were exposed to economic and social
discrimination, exclusion and discriminatory surveillance.
Doors began to close for the admission of Muslim students
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to institutions of higher education. Discrimination in
employment deprived immigrants of jobs in business and
industry. In the United States 'profiling criteria came to
include ethnicity, national origin and religion, a heightened
scrutiny and harassment at airports (and) selective

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enforcement of visa regulations' Muslims became targets of
FBI interrogations, while their mosques came under

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surveillance, creating a state of fear. An uncounted numbers

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of innocent Muslims, including a large number of Pakistanis,
suffered detention without charge, loss of jobs, deportation,

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and discrimination, not to mention those who were
subjected to humiliation. Some of the other Western
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countries known for religious tolerance were beset with an
eruption of hostility towards Islam. France prohibited the
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use of hijab in public schools. In the Netherlands, Muslim

immigrants and settlers, already suffering discrimination,
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were exposed to a new campaign of hate after the brutal

murder of Dutch film producer Theo van Gogh in November
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2004, by a Muslim.
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ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE AND HARMONY

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Islam. The word meaning peace, Islam emphasizes

coexistence. Murder is a crime under Islamic law. Islam
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upholds the sanctity of human life and abhors the killing of

even a single innocent person. The Quran ordains:
'Whosoever kills a human being for other than
manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he
killed all mankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it
shall be as if he saved the life of all mankind'The Holy
Prophet (pbuh) said: 'A believer remains within the scope of
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his religion so long as he does not kill another person
illegally.' Islam teaches the noble precept of human
fraternity, and abhorrence of discrimination on grounds of
race or color, language or national origin, wealth or gender.
'There is no compulsion in religion

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CONCEPT OF JIHAD

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A tradition quotes the Prophet (PBUH) to have said, 'The

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highest form of jihad is to speak the truth in the face of a
tyrannical ruler.'

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Jihad. The doctrine of jihad is too often mistranslated as
'holy war". Actually the word means 'exertion' or 'struggle.'
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It is a fundamental duty for every believer. An individual

performs the obligation by thought, word and action
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against evil conduct or social injustice. However, there is

no warrant in Islamic law for the use of the term jihad by
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an individual to proclaim violence against another person,

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much less to foist the duty of jihad on the community.

TERRORISM AND AL-QAEDA
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Al Qaeda. Claiming to speak in the name of the World

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Muslim Front, Osama bin Laden issued in 1998 a declaration

of 'jihad against the Jews and Crusaders
August 2009, Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al- Zawahiri,
arrogated to himself the authority to urge people to support
the Pakistani Taliban in 'jihad' and resist the United States
for 'leading a crusade' to divide Pakistan. Such 'privatization
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of war' has been rightly equated to terrorism
WHO WAS BIN LADEN
Bin Laden and many of his followers were from amongst the
twenty-five thousand Arabs recruited to join the Afghan

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Mujahedeen in their liberation struggle against the Soviet

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occupation.

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The Muslim World's Response.
ROLE OF OIC
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Muslim countries realized the need to project a correct
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understanding of their faith. The OIC called for an

extraordinary meeting of the Islamic Conference of
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Foreign Ministers (ICFM). Held in Doha on 10 October

2001, the 57-member ICFM reiterated condemnation of the
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11 September outrage, cooperation in bringing perpetrators

to justice for deserved punishment, and willingness to
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contribute to the elimination of the scourge of terrorism.

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CONFERENCE IN TURKEY
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Another important conference to highlight harmony among

civilizations was convened by Turkey in February 2002. Held
in Istanbul, the colloquium attended by foreign ministers of
OIC and EU members provided a unique opportunity for
better mutual understanding. Participants rejected the
perverse thesis of 'clash of civilizations
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US Policy Review, 2009.
Barack Obama's statements before and after his election as
president evinced a better understanding of Islam and the
concerns of the Muslim world. He did not blame the

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generality of Muslims for 9/11. Instead, he sought to win
over informed Muslim opinion. He stopped talking about

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'war on terror.' Instead, he told a CNN audience on 4

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February 2009, 'It is important for us to recognize that we
have a battle or war against terrorists, that some terrorist
organizations are not representative of a broader Arab

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community— Muslim community H
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HOW TERRORISM AFFECTED MUSLIMS

The upsurge of terrorism in Muslim countries in recent years
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has killed hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Iraq, a

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similar number or more in Darfur, an estimated 50,000

people in Algeria, and thousands in Egypt and Pakistan
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State Terrorism.
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India has used even more savage, if modern, methods to

suppress the Kashmiri struggle for freedom, and as a result
of indiscriminate killings and arson of houses and shops, the
number of victims since 1989 is estimated at 60,000- 100,000.
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War on Iraq. The threat posed by terrorism was exploited
by the United States to force a regime change in Iraq. For the
first time since the end of the Cold War, a superpower,
founder of the United Nations and a permanent member of
the Security Council, resorted to use of force not only

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without authorization by the Security Council, but in
defiance of its manifest opposition

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Palestine. Israeli state agencies resorted to a campaign of
terror in 1948 to kill Palestinians and expel hundreds of
thousands from their homes. Exploiting massive military

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and economic support by the United States and Zionist
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lobbies, and protected by US veto power in the UN Security
Council, Israel has persisted in state terrorism and
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aggression over six decades in its preconceived aim of

territorial expansion, subjecting the people of Palestine to
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occupation and repression.

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Israel exploited the post-9/11 environment to intensify

polices of repression to terrorize the Palestinian people.
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The Need for a Comprehensive Strategy

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1. Dissuasion, working to reverse the causes or

facilitators of terrorism, including through promoting
social and political rights, the rule of law and
democratic reform, working to end occupations and
address major political grievances, combating
organized crime, reducing poverty and
unemployment, and stopping state collapse.
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2. Efforts to counter extremism, including through
education and fostering debate.
3. Building state capacity to prevent terrorist recruitment
and operations.
4. Control of dangerous materials and public health

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defence.
5. Resolve 'long-standing disputes which continue to

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fester and to feed the new threats the issues of

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Palestine, Kashmir and the Korean Peninsula
Kofi Annan outlined a similar five-point global strategy

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1. Dissuasion of disaffected groups from choosing
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terrorism as a tactic to achieve their goals
2. Denial of means for terrorists to attack
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3. Deterring states from supporting terrorists,

developing state capacity to prevent terrorism
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4. Defending human rights and the rule of law.

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Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

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Supplied with lethal weapons and financial resources by

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Al Qaeda and others with a vested interest in TTP, led by

Baitullah Mehsud, and its extremist allies, started attacking
military convoys and check-posts, police personnel and
premises and civilian officials, resulting in heavy casualties.
Soon they also unleashed a wave of suicide bombings by
brainwashed youth on civilian population, killing large
numbers of citizens and destroying valuable assets. Scores of
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schools were destroyed in FATA and Swat. Islamabad.
Peshawar and Lahore suffered frequent attacks. A foreign
embassy was bombed and a prestigious hotel was destroyed
in the federal capital. Former Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto was assassinated on 27 December 2007. The Sri

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Lanka cricket team was attacked in Lahore in 2008. The
death toll mounted from 590 in 2006 and 671 in 2007 to over

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two thousand in 2008. Fear and insecurity stalked the whole

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country as 3,317 persons were killed in 2009.
TTP, who masterminded the most destructive attacks,

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recruited thousands of students of seminaries and other
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unemployed men to unleash a campaign of terror. Militant
maulanas did likewise and imitated TTP to take control of
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parts of FATA. A Taliban group led by Maulana Fazlullah

overwhelmed police and administrative personnel in Swat
and imposed their rule on the scenic valley depriving
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inhabitants of tourist income. In February 2009, Fazlullah

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succeeded in pressuring the government to concede an

agreement, mediated by Maulana Sufi Mohammad, head
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of the movement for enforcement of Sharia, under which the

Pakistani judicial system was to be replaced in Swat with
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Nizam-i-Adl to administer Sharia.On their own part the

Taliban defaulted in laying down arms as required under
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the agreement. Maulana Sufi Mohammad, Fazlullahs

father-in-law, outraged Pakistani opinion by calling the
constitution 'un- Islamic.'The security situation deteriorated
to the extent that by May 2009 three million inhabitants of
Swat and adjoining districts were forced to abandon their
homes and became refugees in their own country.
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Most political parties then joined in support of the
government for the restoration of the writ of the state.
Summoned to the aid of constitutional government, the
armed forces fought bravely and succeeded within three
months to liquidate the terrorists and recover control in

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Swat enabling the bulk of the displaced persons to return to
their homes

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