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Locked on 11/01/2006 8:25:25 PM PST by Lead Moderator, reason:
November thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1730468/posts |
Posted on 10/01/2006 5:29:13 PM PDT by nwctwx
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RECAP:
http://internet-haganah.org/hmedia/26sep06-salafy_forums.html
"The "Top Ten" list
of Salafyist/Jihadist forums"
Zawahiri Was Target in U.S. Attack on Religious School in Pakistan October 30, 2006 1:15 PM
Alexis Debat Reports:
Ayman al Zawahiri was the target of a Predator missile attack this morning on a religious school in Pakistan, according to Pakistani intelligence sources.
ABC News has learned the raid was launched after U.S. intelligence received tips and examined Predator reconnaissance indicating that al Qaeda's No. 2 man may have been staying at the school, which is located in the Bajaur region near the village that is thought to be al Qaeda's winter headquarters.
Despite earlier reports that the missiles had been launched by Pakistani military helicopters, Pakistani intelligence sources now tell ABC News that the missiles were fired from a U.S. Predator drone plane.
Thank you Vortex for the info.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=threatmatrix
---
Thanks to RDTF for the ping to this post.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728799/posts
"The Eye of The Storm - In a secret, high-tech spy hub near Washington, the war on terror is 24-7"
US News & World Report - ^ | October 29, 2006 | kevin Whitelaw
Posted on 10/30/2006 4:14:22 PM PST by RDTF
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Every weekday at 8 a.m., Kevin Brock hefts a thick white ring binder onto a sleek, oval conference table. Labeled "Read Book," the deceptively plain folder houses the "Threat Matrix," a top-secret compendium of the most troubling reports of possible terrorist activity, drawn from the nation's 16 intelligence agencies."
Note: The following text is a quote:
---
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1968
Taliban Tactics May Have Led to Civilian Deaths
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2006 – The Taliban’s habit of using human shields during attacks on coalition forces may have caused the deaths of a number of Afghan civilians during a recent incident in Kandahar province, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe said in the Afghan capital Oct. 28.
“Sadly, in asymmetric warfare, when you’re battling an insurgency, typically, the insurgents do not play by the same rules that we would like to play by,” Marine Gen. James L. Jones, who was visiting the country, told reporters at a Kabul news conference.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and the Afghan Ministry of Defense are conducting a joint investigation into the Oct. 24 incident in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, according to an ISAF news release. A large number of insurgents were engaged by coalition close-air support that day near the Sperwan Ghar security base.
Besides insurgents, a number of Afghan civilians were also killed in the engagement, the release stated, noting it wasn’t clear at this point how many civilians were killed as the result of insurgent fire.
Insurgents in Afghanistan routinely “attack using civilians as shields,” Jones said. “They do everything they can to spread lies about the purpose of the (coalition) soldiers’ efforts.”
Early investigation of the Sperwan Ghar incident indicates that “sadly, there appears to have been some loss of life and innocent people who were wounded in a legitimate mission,” Jones said.
The insurgents were apparently using the cover of civilian population in an attempt to discourage coalition counter fire, Jones said, noting that’s an often-employed Taliban tactic.
Such a scenario makes it “very difficult for us to get at them,” Jones said. Coalition military commanders in Afghanistan often weigh whether or not to go after enemy targets of opportunity in recent engagements.
The incidence of innocent Afghan civilians being killed or wounded in any engagement “is to be regretted and investigated,” Jones said, noting he’d personally apologized for the incident to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
“We take this very seriously,” Jones emphasized. “We will look into it. And, we will always do whatever we can to minimize any innocent people from being victimized in any way by military activitie
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=23159_Manchester_Imam_Says_Kill_Gays_Media_Yawns&only
Monday, October 30, 2006
"Manchester Imam Says "Kill Gays," Media Yawns"
UPDATE...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=rape
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=alhilali
===
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728894/posts
"Muslims leaving 'Hilaly fan club' (Australian Mufti)"
news com.au ^ | October 31, 2006 | website
Posted on 10/30/2006 7:18:36 PM PST by Fred Nerks
"Muslims leaving 'Hilaly fan club'"
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "MUSLIMS were beginning to break free from the "Sheik Hilaly fan club" since the senior cleric's fall from grace, Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott said today.
The controversy surrounding Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilaly was an opportunity for other Australian Muslims to represent their community, Mr Abbott said.
The controversy started last week when it was revealed the mufti compared immodestly-dressed women to uncovered meat open to predators in a speech at Sydney's Lakemba mosque last month.
"I certainly think that it's about time that we started to hear diverse voices in the Islamic community and perhaps one of the good things to come out of the recent controversy is the range of Islamic people here in Australia who are now starting to break ranks, so to speak, from the Sheik Hilaly fan club," Mr Abbott said on ABC radio.
"He certainly has form. He has been an extremist on just about every issue where he's been in the media over the last couple of decades."
Treasurer Peter Costello said Sheik Hilaly's comments about women were just the tip of the iceberg of extreme views that could have damaged Australian society over the past decade."
===
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728719/posts
"Australia: Muslim Rape Gang Leader Smiles As He Is Sentenced"
westernresistance ^ | July 30, 2006 | blog archive
Posted on 10/30/2006 1:22:07 PM PST by Fred Nerks
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "There is something deeply disturbing about this case. Rape is always something vile, violent and unconscionable. That it should happen in a gang of up to 14 members, when its youngest victim was 16, is bad enough. That the rapists are unrepentant, and with one Muslim "spokesman" now saying that the leaders of the gang should be "honoured and respected", makes the case more sickening still.
Last December, riots took place on Cronulla Beach between white gangs and Lebanese Muslim gangs. Mark Steyn commented that one fault of the riots lay in young Muslims' refusal to integrate. We quoted from his article:
In Sydney in 2002, the leader of a group of Lebanese-Australian Muslim gang-rapists was sentenced to 55 years (halved on appeal).
The lads liked to tell the lucky lady that she was about to be "fucked Leb-style" and that she deserved it because she was an "Australian pig". It was the sentence that was "controversial". As Monroe Reimers wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald: "As terrible as the crime was, we must not confuse justice with revenge. Where has this hatred come from? How have we contributed to it? Perhaps it's time to take a good hard look at the racism by exclusion practised with such a vengeance by our community and cultural institutions."
But for many Australians, the case of the rape gang led by Bilal Skaf (pictured above left) created nothing but rage and resentment at the brazenness of the perpetrators.
As Mark Steyn said, Bilal Skaf was sentenced on 15 August 2002 to 55 years' jail for leading a series of rapes which took place in and around Sydney in 2000. The sentencing report makes for grim reading. Justice Michael Finanne states that the gang's attacks were coordinated using cellular phones, and led to young girls being lured away, sometimes on the pretext of being taken off to smoke marijuana, and then being met by other youths in vehicles. The details of what the girls were subjected to are horrific. The sentencing report from 2002 is found at the foot of this article. It is graphic, and shocking.
Unfortunately, Bilal Skaf's conviction for the attack on their youngest victim, a 16-year old girl, which happened in Gosling Park, Greenacre, on August 12, 2000, was quashed in 2004. It was discovered that during the trial, two jurors had independently gone to the scene of the crime to conduct "their own investigations". As a result, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal overturned the convictions of Bilal Skaf and his younger brother Mohammed. Mohammed Skaf, previously unnamed because he had been a minor, was 17 at the time of the rape.
The victim of the Gosling Park rape attack had been too scared to once again confront her assailants, and at one stage charges were withdrawn. But laws were changed in New South Wales, and these allowed the victim to respond to the court in a retrial using her previous evidence from the 2002 trial. This was read out in question and answer form by a solicitor and a prosecutor.
According to the Melbourne Age, the retrial led to the two brothers being reconvicted of the Gosling Park rape incident in April of this year. 24-year old Bilal Skaf was found guilty on two counts of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent in company. Mohammed Skaf was convicted of being an accessory after the fact.
The two men were already convicted of the other rapes in which they had been involved, and were in prison, but on Friday (July 28), the two men were handed down their sentences. Mohammed Skaf was sentenced to 15 years' jail, with a minimum of seven and a half years to spent incarcerated, for his part in oranising the Gosling Park rape(s).
Jane Mathews, acting NSW Supreme Court judge, sentenced Bilal Skaf to a minimum of eleven years' jail, additional to the 22 years' minimum jail for the other rapes he committed.
Bilal Skaf briefly smiled when Justice Mathews sentenced him. When he was originally convicted in 2002, he had laughed. When he had received his sentence in 2002 he had sworn at the judge.
Justice Mathews said that the attack by 14 men was "cruel, callous and degrading".
Mohammed Skaf had befriended the 16 year old, known in court proceedings as Miss D. She had known him for six months, and her mother knew him. Skaf had suggested that they drive to the city center of Sydney. She went to get in the car for the drive at 9pm, and found two other men, Ibrahim and Michael, already inside the vehicle.
As they drove, the males had been using their mobile phones and conversing in Arabic. Before Miss D had got into the car, Mohammed had been talking to Bilal about the plan. The car was stopped at Gosling Park. The men tried to persuade the teenager to have sex with them, and Mohammed Skaf tried to use various plays to persuade her not to leave the car.
A car and a white van arrived. Mohammed then disappeared. Bilal Skaf tried to get Miss D to "go for a walk" with him, and when she refused he grabbed her by the hair and threw her onto the ground. With up to 14 associates holding the girl down, Bilal Skaf committed vaginal rape, and others digitally penetrated her. When Skaf had done, another man claimed it was his turn and raped her. One man held a gun to her head and kicked her in the stomach.
The girl, described by the judge in the 2002 trial as "exceptionally brave" then fled, and ran across the park to a telephone box. As she was in the phone box, the van drew up and one of the attackers drew a gun, ordering her to get in the van. She was screaming, and when a man came round the corner and walked forward, the gang fled. The man took her to his apartment and she phoned a friend who came to take her home.
The effect of the sentencing upon the two men means that Bilal Skaf will serve at least 32 years' jail for the three gang rape incidents. His earliest possible date for release will be February 11, 2033, when he will be 51. He could serve a maximum of 38 years. Mohammed Skaf will serve a minimum of eighteen and a half years, and will become eligible for parole on July 1, 2019, when he will be 36.
The mother of Miss D said outside the court: "I've spoken to my daughter today. She's very, very happy. She cried, she laughed. She's not here today, so obviously it has affected her to the point where she can't have anything to do with this."
"She'll never forget it but hopefully she'll be able to talk about it," the mother said. "They would not be sitting in jail this long if it was not for the new laws (which allowed Miss D to testify without confronting her assailants) and the media attention."
The nature of the three gang rapes, involving forced oral sex, shocked even prisoners. While Bilal Skaf had been originally confined in Long Bay Correctional Centre, there was a plot by other prisoners to inject him with blood tainted with the HIV virus. As a result, he was transferred to the maximum security Goulburn Gaol.
The dramas did not cease there. While he was residing in Goulburn Super-Max prison, in July 2003, telephone threats were made to the police, saying that if Bilal Skaf was not released within three days, staff at Goulburn Local Court would be shot."
Note: The following text (minus the photos) is a quote:
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/061026bloomington.htm
October 26, 2006
ICE deports 7 Minnesota gang members in the past month
A Surenos gang member was among the 75 aliens deported to Mexico yesterday
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers here deported 75 illegal aliens to Mexico yesterday afternoon, including an admitted street gang member. ICE has deported seven members of violent street gangs in the past 30 days.
Of the 75 transported to the U.S.-Mexico border for deportation, 53 had convictions for such crimes as: first-degree sexual assault, attempted sexual assault of a child, domestic assault, fraud, child abuse, drug offenses, illegal re-entry after deportation, drunken driving, identity theft and forgery.
In the 10-month period beginning Oct. 1, 2005 and ending July 31, ICE deported more than 2,400 illegal aliens to 55 different countries from the five-state area that includes: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. Of that number, more than 1,090 had criminal convictions. During fiscal year 2005, ICE deported more than 3,080 illegal aliens from the same geographic area; more than 1,370 of them had criminal convictions. Nationally, ICE removed more than 168,700 aliens in fiscal year 2005; of that number, more than 84,800 were criminal aliens.
Among the 75 deported yesterday was Ivan Carrillo-Escareno, 20, a citizen of Mexico and an admitted member of the violent Surenos street gang. ICE's fugitive operations team encountered Carrillo-Escareno Oct. 6 at his place of employment in Brooklyn Park, Minn. Brooklyn Park police had arrested him for assault three days before.
During the past 30 days, ICE also deported the following street gang members:
Ermilo Chavez-Lazarin, 19, a citizen of Mexico, is an admitted member of the Surenos street gang. He was convicted in Hennepin County of theft and tampering with a motor vehicle in October 2004, and was arrested for giving a police officer a false name in July 2006. ICE fugitive operations team members arrested Chavez-Lazarin at his Brooklyn Center, Minn. home Sept. 29. He was deported Oct. 18.
Joaquin Alvarado-Salazar, 18, a citizen of Mexico, is an admitted member of the Surenos street gang and bears a gang tattoo. He admitted to entering the U.S. illegally in May 2004, and was arrested by ICE's fugitive operations team Oct. 4. He was deported Oct. 18.
Victor Guillermo Lopez, 35, a citizen of Mexico, was turned over to ICE by the Hennepin County Sheriff's office Aug. 31. His criminal career began in California, where he was a member of the Florencia 13 street gang. Lopez was convicted in 1991 in California for burglary and felony auto theft, and again in 1992 for auto theft. While in prison, Lopez was arrested for drug possession in 1994 and attempted murder in 1995. In 1996 he was arrested for possessing a dangerous weapon and a controlled substance, and sent back to prison. Lopez then moved to Minnesota, where he was arrested in Burnsville in June 2003 for second-degree assault. He was then arrested for domestic assault and for giving a false name to a police officer in 2004, and for theft in 2005. In 2005, he was convicted of assault after stabbing a man in the face with a knife. Lopez was deported Oct. 4.
Marco Aguilar-Campis, 19, a citizen of Mexico, is an admitted member of the Surenos street gang. Members of ICE's fugitive operations team arrested him Sept. 26 outside his Minneapolis residence. Aguilar-Campis has been arrested three times for weapons violations: in December 2004 in Apple Valley, in August 2005 in Brooklyn Park, and in April 2006 in Minneapolis by metro transit police. He was deported Oct. 4.
Miguel Silvan-Gallegos, 19, a citizen of Mexico. He was arrested at his Minneapolis residence Sept. 22 by members of ICE's fugitive operations team. Silvan-Gallegos bears several gang tattoos and claims he has been a Surenos street gang member since he was 12. He was deported to Mexico Oct. 4.
Israel Diaz-Vences, 23, a citizen of Mexico, was turned over to ICE by the St. Paul Police Department Sept. 25. He bears several gang tattoos, and admitted to St. Paul Police to being a Surenos street gang member when he was stopped in a stolen car in 2004. Diaz-Vences was deported Sept. 27.
“ICE focuses on removing criminal aliens from our communities, and gang members are a particular priority,” said John Longshore, deputy field office director for the ICE Detention and Removal Operations Office in Bloomington. “We proudly stand by our record and will continue our work each day to help keep communities safe.”
The gang deportations are part of Operation Community Shield, ICE's comprehensive law enforcement initiative targeting violent criminal street gangs nationwide. Since it was launched in May 2005, Operation Community Shield has resulted in the arrest of more than 4,100 gang members and associates nationwide, including 77 in Minnesota.
-- ICE --
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/2006accomplishments.htm
October 30, 2006
"EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN FISCAL YEAR 2006"
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=596&sid=958509
"Arrest Made in Police Impersonations"
Oct 30th - 5:23pm
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON - One man has been arrested for impersonating a police officer, Metropolitan Police say.
On Monday, police arrested 41-year-old Caliss Johnson and charged him with kidnapping while armed in connection with two of the three incidents where men posing as police officers robbed and abducted people in the District, Metropolitan Police Capt. Michael Reese says.
Police arrested Johnson in a parking area on Navy Road in Southeast.
Johnson acted alone in one the first incident, which occurred on Oct. 26 in the 3000 block of M Street, NW, and was also involved in the Oct. 27 incident, which occurred in the 1300 block of 4th Street, NE, Reese says.
Police are still looking for an additional suspect, Reese says.
With Georgetown getting ready for thousands of people to turn out in costume for Halloween, police are still warning people to be wary of fake police officers."
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1728910/posts?page=20#20
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1511205/posts?page=3#3
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1511205/posts?page=5#5
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1511205/posts?page=8#8
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=suicidebomber
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=suicidebombers
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=homicidebomber
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=homicidebombers
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=northkorea
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=nkorea
---
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728325/posts
South Korea: Prominent 386ers Help for Espionage ~~ a U.S. citizen spying for North Korea held
chosun.com ^ | Oct.27,2006 10:19 KST | staff
Posted on 10/29/2006 10:21:23 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Prominent 386ers Help for Espionage
Former member of the Democratic Labor Party central committee Lee Jung-hun, who is under arrest for contacting North Korean agents in China, takes questions from reporters on his way to court in Seoul on Thursday.
386ers Accused of Spying for N.Korea
Businessman 'Ran N.Korean Spies for 13 Years'
Did He Fall or Was He Pushed?
386ers ‘Briefed Pyongyang on S.Korea’s Internal Problems’
Heroes of Democracy
Authorities are holding a U.S. citizen, Michael Chang (44), who they say was trained as a spy in North Korea between 1989 and 1993, became a member of the ruling Korean Workers Party, pledged allegiance to the party, and spied for the North for 10 years. The National Intelligence Service and prosecutors on Thursday also alleged that a former member of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party’s central committee, Lee Jung-hun (42), and businessman Sohn Jung-mok (42) were persuaded by Chang to join him in spying for the North and until recently provided classified information to North Korean agents.
The Seoul Central District Court issued arrest warrants for the three former student activists on Thursday. The NIS is expanding its investigation and also arrested the vice DLP secretary general Choi Ki-young and another former student activist identified as Lee (42) the same day.
The agency says it amassed significant evidence that Chang was in contact with North Korean agents, visited the North at least three times since 1989 and spied for the North here. The NIS is concentrating its efforts on finding out who was contacted or persuaded by Chang to join him. Chang has reportedly admitted some of the allegation. The agency is investigating whether the suspect also produced encrypted reports, as evidence suggests Chang did. “If it is confirmed that Chang produced coded reports, it follows that he received special training from the North,” an investigator said.
Investigators believe Choi was the link among the former student activists -- members of the so-called 386 generation -- and was also in touch with Pyongyang. Choi, a leading student activist in the 1980s, has extensive contacts among politicians and labor organizations. He was an executive of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and played a key role in establishing the DLP. He served time in jail for violating the law on demonstrations but was given W8.9 million (US$1=W950) in compensation from an official body called the Commission for Democratization Movement Activists' Honor-Restoration and Compensation in March this year. Lee Jung-hun, who took the lead in the three-day seizure of the U.S. Information Service building in Seoul in May 1985, was given W39 million by the commission in November 2001.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728221/posts
"Report accuses N.Korea of crimes against humanity"
Reuters ^ | 10/29/06 | Arshad Mohammed
Posted on 10/29/2006 5:15:31 PM PST by wagglebee
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea has committed "crimes against humanity" against its own people according to an independent report published on Monday that made a long-shot appeal for the U.N. Security Council to deal with the issue.
Released after North Korea's October 9 nuclear test, the report describes Pyongyang's brutal treatment of its citizens, from the beatings of pregnant women to force miscarriages to the abduction, torture and execution of political prisoners."
The face of a loser:
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/index.cfm?page=gadahn
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728925/posts
"New Strain Of Bird Flu Spreads To Humans"
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 10-31-2006 | Roger Highfield
Posted on 10/30/2006 8:46:00 PM PST by blam
"New strain of bird flu spreads to humans"
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Last Updated: 1:27am GMT 31/10/2006
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A previously unknown and dangerous strain of the H5N1 bird flu has emerged from southern China and has spread from birds to people in South-east Asia, marking a third wave of avian flu and rekindling fears of a global pandemic."
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=CHINA
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=RUSSIA
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=FRANCE
===
===
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/10/30/90743.shtml
"France, Russia Powering China's New Navy"
Charles R. Smith
Monday, Oct. 30, 2006
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1726333/posts
"Regarding Iraq: Open letter to Andy Rooney"
Townhall ^ | October 26, 2006 | Larry Elder
Posted on 10/26/2006 9:08:52 AM PDT by Kaslin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=gangs
---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728755/posts
"Police on the lookout for gang activity at Halloween [Salem, MA]"
The Salem News Online ^ | Monday, October 30, 2006 | Tom Dalton
Posted on 10/30/2006 2:39:33 PM PST by Momaw Nadon
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "SALEM - A law enforcement team that knows the players and street colors will be working undercover Halloween night looking for youth gangs who may be coming here to make trouble.
Tipped by sources about possible gang plans, Salem police say they are taking no chances. They have assembled an 18-member team of police from several area departments, as well as parole officers and state Department of Youth Services employees, to mingle with the tens of thousands of Halloween revelers expected here tomorrow night.
"We believe that North of Boston gangs may be looking to make Salem a focal point of gang activity this Halloween night," Salem police Chief Robert St. Pierre said after meeting Friday with law enforcement personnel from more than a dozen North Shore and Greater Boston communities.
The chief declined to provide specific details but said his department has been in contact with police officers specializing in gangs in Chelsea and Lynn and also with parole, prison and youth services sources.
St. Pierre, who has met with Mayor Kim Driscoll, said he does not want to frighten the public or keep crowds away but feels that his first responsibility is to public safety."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728394/posts
"The most, least dangerous U.S. cities"
Yahoo! News ^ | October 30, 2006 | Staff
Posted on 10/30/2006 4:46:35 AM PST by mcg2000
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