notice of libel - khurrum awan to ezra levant

8/14/2019 Notice of Libel - Khurrum Awan to Ezra Levant

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ONTARIOSUPERIOR OURTOF JUSTICEB E T W E E N :

KHURRUM WAN lntendedPlaint i f fand

EZRA LEVANT Intended efendant

NOTICE FLIBEL(pursuanto section5 of the Liber nd sranderAct,R.s.o.1990, . L.12.1TAKE NorlcE THAT the intended laintiff "Mr.Awan")will commenceproceedingsgainst ou ordefamatorytatementsouhavepublishednyourblog ocatedt the URLwww.ezralevant.com.heparticularsf thedefamatorystatementsublishedyyouaresetoutbelow ndcomprisedseries f bloilentries n June4, 2009. Includedn the June4, 2009blog entriess therepublicationy you of a series f blogentries n thedates ndicatedn thisNotice f Libel.Throughoutourblogentries ouhave alsely ccusedMr.Awanof committingperjury nd have alsely tated he facts elatedo the hearing eforehe BCHuman ights ribunal.Mr.Awanwillseekgeneral,pecial ndpunitiveamagesromyou. Mr.Awandemandshatyou orthwith,emove llblogentries ntitledKhurrumwan heliar"rom ourwebsite.


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- 2 -Specification f the matterscomptained f bv Mr .Awan"Khurrumwanhe iar,part8" - http://ezralevant.com/2009/06/khurrum-awan-the-liar-part-8.html

of Posting: une 4, 200glve beenbloggingor abouta yearand a hall and by far the mostenjoyabledaysof t were heones spent ive-bloggingarkSteyn's how rialat the B.C.HumanRights ribunatas tJune.Oneof the reasons enjoyedbloggingrom hat rialwas that t was the first imethat the antl-Semites t the Canadian slamicCongresshad to face cross-examinationor their conduct.Theiranti-Semite-in-chief,ohamedElmasrvwhohadboastedon national V that all adult sraeliswere egitimateargetiforterroristmurders refused o take he witness tand, he coward.But biZarrely,hisyoungprotege, Toronto awstudentnamedKhurrumAwan, ook the standin hisplace.That,of course, s a procedure nknowno any court-- to havea stuntdoubledoingyour estimonyor you.Awanwasn't he complainant;e wasn'ta BritishColumbian,he urisdictionhatheld he rial;hewasn't n expertn anything. ewas ust some guy who was testifying o that his boss, Elmasry,could voidansweringoughquestions.he deaof sendingn a proxy a pR flack;a stuntdouble; n actor;whatever to give estimony n behalfof the realcomplainantis novel n aw.Bu t hen hese angarooourts ren't unby realjudges it h ealrules f procedure they us tmake t up as heygoalong.

DefamatoryStatements:1. You have alselystatedby innuendon the above-quotedlogentry hatMr.Awan s an anti-Semite. r. Awanhas nevermade any nti-semiticstatementsn publicor private; ordoeshe harbour uchviews.2. You have alselystate n the above-quotedlogentry hat Mr.Awanwastestifyingn order o preventMr .Elmasryromansweringoughquestions.Mr . Awan testifiedat the hearingof a humanrightscomflaintagainstMaclean's eforehe BC HumanRights ribunal ecause ewaspartof astudent roup hat metwithMaclean's ditors, rior o the filingof humanrightscomplaints gainstMacrean's ith the ontario, BC, and FederalHRCs, o ask hatMaclean's ublish responseo oneof a series f anti-Muslim rticles.Mr. Awanwastestifying efore he BC Tribunal rimarily

!o complete he narrativeabout why comptaintswere filed againstMaclean's.Mr. Awan would have testifiedregardlessof whether Mr.Elmasrytestified before the Tribunal.Mr. Awan took no part in thedecisionas to whetherMr . Elmasrywould testify. The innuendoofdescribingMr . Awan as a "proxy", "pR frack", a stuntdouble", r .anactor" s that he was providingafseand misleadingestimony o thetribunal ndassistingo preventMr .Elmasryrom estifling.


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."Myavouriteartwaswhen ulian orter,e.c., gotAwan o admit hathe hadbeenyingo hecanadian ediaormonths hen ehadpubliclylaimedhathe hadsaid o Maclean'shat heirdemandedrebuttal,,o MarkSteyn's rticlecouldbe authored y someonehat he canadianslamic ongress ndMaclean's utuallygreed pon.Under ath,Awan dmittedhatwasa tie hehaddemandedhatMaclean'submito an author f theclc,s ownchoosing.And,underoathagain,Porter otAwan o admit hat he also ried o shalieMaclean'sown or housandsf dollars.oo.,,

DefamatoryStatements:1. By innuendo, nd throughyour distortion f Mr. Awan's estimony, ouhave mpliedhathe wasattemptingo obtain thousands f dollars;'romMaclean's or his personalbenefit. n fact, and as stated before heTribunal, uringbothhis examinationnd cross-examination,he studentgroupwhichmetMaclean's ditors, sked hat Maclean's onsidermakinga donationo an organizationorking n race-relationsn canada.2. You falselystatethat Mr.Awan admitted o lying n his testimonybeforethe BC Tribunaland that he admitted hat he tried to shake downMaclean'sor thousandsof dollars. Mr. Awan did not lie before hetribunal n any mannerand your accusationhat he did is false anddefamatory. Further, our statementhat Mr. Awan was attemptingoshakedownMaclean's s falseand mpliesmproprietyn hispart.

Here remy series f blogentriesrom hatda ycalled Khurrum wan he ia/,:1, 2, 3,4,5,g and7.DefamatoryStatements:1. Youhave epublished totalof sevenblogs hatyou authoredifled"Khurrum wan he iar", ll containingumerousalsestatementsboutMr .Awan.Thoseblogentries reset outbelow.

"Khurrum wan,he serial iar"- http://ezralevant.com/200g/06/khurrum-awan-is-a-seriat-lar.htmPosted:une .2008JulianPorter imselfwas at the meeting hereKhurrum wa nand his uniorAlsharptons ried o shakedownKenwhyte and Maclean'sor cash and a coverstory.PorteraskedAwanpointblank f the CIC'sproposedcounter-article"asto -be "mutuallyacceptable"o whyte .or of the clc's own choosing.Afterobfuscatingor a few rounds,Awanacknowledgedhat he never n factotfered"mutually cceptable" rticle that was simplyan after-the-factie; a litflebi t oftaqqivahatAwanet al, has old he press.Awanadmittedhat he madeno suchofferof a mutually cceptable uthor.t was o be he clc's ownchoice.


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- 4 -Defamatorytatements:1. You againallege hat Mr.Awan ied o the mediadue to a phenomenonknownas "taqqiya'',which again is linked o the websiteof a far-rightcommentator,DanielPipes,and where his term is definedas indicaied

above n thisNotice f Libel.The nnuendo f four words s thatMr .Awanis an lslamic Muslim xtremist r terrorist ho hinks hat t is permissibleto l ie in order o attainsome kind of lslamic lslamistobjectives. hisstatements false. You had no basis or aileging hat Mr. Awan is (a)familiar ith hisconcept; r (b) hathe san extremist f any kind.Awan the liar, part 2 - hftpllezralevant.com/2008/06/awan-theJiar-part-2.htmlPosted: un e3, 2008Now Porter s showingAwan various etters hatAwan sent to Maclean's. hefoolwa sstupidenough o pu this shakedownemandsn writing. nd Porter sshowing hat Awan demandedhat Maclean'submit o the clc's choice.No"mutually cceptable" nything. hatqualifierwas added aterby Awanthe Liar,to appearmorereasonableo the Gentile ress. t remindsme of YasserArafat,who wouldpreachpeacewhen speaking n Englisho western ournalists, ndpreacherrorismo hisownconstituency henspeaking n Arabic.That'sAwan:reasonableo the media;a juniorAl sharptonwhendealingwjth Ken whyte. Nowonder wanhad roubleinding mploymentollowing isclerkship.

DefamatoryStatements:1. YouhavespecificallyalledMr.Awana liarand mpliedhathe committedperjury.2. Mr . Awan did had no difficultyobtainingemployment oilowinghisclerkship. e obtained mployment hileclerking ith he Superior ourt.By nnuendo,oustated hatMr .Awan s ncompetent.3. By innuendo, ou stated hat Mr. Awan s a racistMusrimwho believesthat hepressare"gentiles" r nfidels. ouhadno basis n fact ormakingthis statement.DuringMr . Awan's mediaappearances erated o theMaclean's ase,he waSverycourteous nd respectful ith all the mediathat nterviewedme.4. You specifically ssociatedMr. Awan with yasser Arafat and statedbyinnuendohat he preaches errorismo Muslims.Mr . Awan has neverpreached iolencenany orm o anybody.5. You have misrepresentedhe contentof letterswhich were exchangedbetween Rogers lnc. and a student group to which Mr . Awan isassociated.nparticular:

a. Mr .Awanneverstated hat Maclean's ad o submit o CIC'schoiceof editors.


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- 5 -b' The studentgroupdid not indicaten the letterssent to Rogers hatthe response.ouldbe published y a mutuallyacceptablE"rtho,ecauseat the time the letterswere sent Miclean,seditorshadrefusedo publishanykindof responseo thearticte, nd t wasonly

much ater,after he complaints erepublicly nnounced nd beganto receive ignificantmediaattention'that aclean's ditors,alselyclaimed hat.they ad alwaysbeenwillingo publisn resfonseanorefused o d9 so onrybecause he stulent groupwanted ts ownchoice f author.c. The tribunal at no time concluded hat Mr. Awan gave falsetestimony.

Awan-the iar, part 4 - http:llezralevant.com/200g/06/awan-the-liar-part-4.htmlPosted: une3, 200gBlog:Awanwrotea letter o a Rogers xecutive riansegal. t was partof hissharptonian dventuren shaking ownRogers.Bad deal t didn'twork. metseg.al esterday. e,comes clois as a genfleman usinessman,ut I get hefeelinghe'sgoodwitha bowieknife. egil didn'tpaya dime.eut tn"r, iot whyAwan's etterwasso stupid. t wasstupil because owwe havea written rackrecord fAwan'sshakedown-t'sbeing eadback o him ncourt.He,sbeingaskedwhere hephrasemutuallygreeable,,exists.t doesn't. owAwan strying o explain way hat ie.Uh, t sn'tworking.'dgo with he cryingstrategy.

DefamatoryStatements:1. The innuendo f your above-quotedlog entry s that in the letterMr .

Awansent o Briansegal ollowingheirmletingwithMaclean's, easkedfor money.That statements false.The letterJent to Mr. segai ooei notask or money.By innuendo, ou stated hatMr .Awanwas ftemptingtoprofit inancially.

ly:n. the liar, part s - hftp://ezralevant.com/200g/06/awan-the-liar-part-5.htmlPosted: une3,2008Blog: NowJulianPorter s askingKhurrumAwanabouthis pressconference tthe InterContinentalotel n Toronto,eaturing aisal oseph.porterpointed utthatAwanand Josephdidn'tmake he "mutually cceptable" ffer here,either.Awan gave his incoherent xplanation, ith an extra'doltopoi Fargo:he *asworriedhat Maclean'swoulddistortan offerof a mutually cceptable rticle, otheydidn'tmake t.Porter: if youdistort t,sokay; f he does, t'sbad,,Porter henreadout Awan'sarticle n the Globeand Mail,whereAwan not onlysaid the proposedarticlewouldbe from a mutually cceptablewriter,but thaiwritercouldbe from nsideor outside he Muslim ohmuniiy but, n fact,Awanhad demandedhat the authorof that cover-storyebuttaibe from the Muslim


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- 6 -community,nd of the CIC'sownchoosing. notherie .Awan s drowningn hisownquicksand. eep alking,ittlegrasshopper. eep alking.

DefamatoryStatements:1. You failed o publish n yourblogentry hat Mr. Awan estifiedhat herewasno need or him o discuss mutually cceptable uthorbecause, tthe ime,Maclean's ditorswereunwillingo publish ny response t all. twas only approximatelyour days after this press conference, hatMaclean's hiefeditor,Ken Whyte, alselyclaimed hat he had alwaysbeenpreparedo publish responseo the article.Therefore, s a resultof your failure o ascertainhe completeacts beforeyou publishedheabove-quotedlogentry, ou alsely ccusedMr .Awanof perjury.

Awan the liar, part 6 - http://ezralevant.com/2008/06/awan-the-liar-part'6.htmlDateof Posting: une3, 2008Blog: NowAwan s listing uthors e'd indacceptableor herebuttal rticle heyweredemanding including aroonSiddiqui, f the TorontoStar.Why he hellnot?Justbecause hey'recompetitors,o reasonwhy you shouldn'try to forceSiddiquionto Maclean's.But Porter pointsout that Awan did not mentionSiddiqui'same,or an yother.Porter: hydidn't ou put hose deas o Whyte?',wellwe couldn't."uh, okay.so you had ime o demand ash,and a coverstory, but you ,'couldn't"have spoken the truth back then? | don't evenunderstandhe excuse.But t'snot meant o be understandable;t's notmeant oclarify;t's meant o muddy,o confuse.Let me sum up for you,dearreader,who are no t here o watcha junion[sic]would-beawyer ry to explaino a courtwh y he is a serial,malicious, oney-grubbingiar.KhuriumAwanwent n demandingashandeditorialontrol. he nhe reali2edhat doesn't ook good n a liberaldernocracyike Canada.So heeditedhe truth.He amendedwhathe said.He ied.And ie dan d ie dand ied.An dkept ying.He smearedKenWhyte.He smearedMaclean's. e smearedRogers,And thatdamn ool thoughtheidget awaywith t. He was so brazen hat he thoughthe'devencallhimself s a witness. ulianPorter asearned is ee oday'

DefamatoryStatements:1. You have falselystated hat Mr . Awan is a "serial,malicious,money-grubbing iar," By innuendo, ou have stated hat Mr . Awan committedperjUry.The BC Tribunal cceptedMr .Awan's estimonyn its entirety,and substantiallyejectedhe version f eventshatMaclean's ditors adput n hepublic omainhrough public tatement'2. You falsely tate ha t Mr. Awan s a "damn ool"and calledhimself s awitness.3. You falselystate by innuendo hat Mr. Awan was attemptingo elicitmoney rom Mclean's or himselfwhen he requestwas for a donationoa worthy ause.


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Awan he liar,pa t 7 - hftp //eFralevant.com/?009/06/aw?n-the-liar-pat-7.htmlBlog:JulianPorter saskingAwan f he remembers hether r not hedemandedmoney romMaclean's. orter s now eading ut a writtendemandby thesockpuppetsor "substantial" onies.Awan s denying he documentaryecord.Awansays ha t$10,000 as he numberheyhad n mind though eacknowledgese hadn'tparticularizehatsum before.

DefamatoryStatements:1. lt is alse o state hatMr .Awan s a "sockpuppet"or anybody.n act,Mr .Awanhad ndependentnvolvementn he human ights omplaintsagainstMaclean's. ewasan ndividualomplainantefore he OntarioHumanRightsCommissionndhadput ogether groupof lawstudentswhohadalreadymade he decisiono meetwithMaclean's ditors bout

the article,wellbeforehe CanadianslamicCongress r Mr.Elmasry otinvolvedn hismdtter.2. There s no written emand y Mr,Awanor anyof the complainantsor"substantial"oniesromMaclean's.heonly equests ere or adonation s indicated bove n hisNotice f Libel.Thisstatementscompletelyalse.

Well, 'd ike o add an eighth nstalmento myseries. missed t when first eadit in the Star's etter o thq editors ection scroll own),but Mark Stevnpoints tou t Awan mplies hat he was the complainantgainstme an d th e WesternStandardmagazine or publishinghe Danish artoons f Mohammed. wanwrites:Ezra Levant accuses Canada'shuman rights commisslonsof censorship orinvestigatingour hate-speechcomplaints about his publishing of cartoonsdepictingMuslims...Uh ,nope.Thecomplaintsgainstme were iledbya Pakistaniew-hater ?medSvedSoharwardv, nd Soharwardy'sellowcensors t the EdmontonCouncilofMuslimCommunities.wa nand heCanadianslamicCongress ad nothingodo with t.Who cares, eally.But it's so curio us:what is i t aboutAwan that ust makeshim say or writeanything anything t all - no matter f it's rue or not?I can understandf he has an urge o l ie. t 's called aoiyyq.Bu t surelyan yintelligentiarwouldchoose l ie hat s notso easily heck-able. hy ie aboutsomethingha tcan be so easily isproven?

DefamatoryStatements:1. Mr . Awan co-authored letter o the Editor hat was publishedn theTorontoStar n responseo a TorontoStarop-edpieceby you, n which


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- 8 -youreferredo the human ights aseagainstMaclean's. herein,oureferredo the complainantss radicalMuslims.n the respondingetterMr. Awan submittedo the Star,he did not claim hat he was acomplainantn the human ights ase iledagainst oubeforeheAlbertaHumanRightsCommissionith especto hispublicationf the Danishcartoons. he etterwasworded s ollows:

"Recently, on fhese pages, Ezra Levant accused Canada's human rightscommissions HRCs)of censorshipor investigatinghate speecfi complaintsabouthispublishingof cartoonsdepictingMuslimsand the ProphetMuhammadas suicidebombersand for hearingour complaints egardingMaclean'smagazine's efusaltopublisha response to one of more than 20 afticles which, among many things,represent that lslam condones sex with minors and animals,refer to Muslimsas"sheep-shaggers," nd allege that Muslimsbelieve in drinking the blood of theirenemies...(Emphasisdded.)The letter hat was submitted y Mr. Awan to the Star was editedby theStar'seditors,withoutMr. Awan'sknowledge.A letterwas sent to thePublicEditorof the TorontoStar,KathyEnglish,nforming er of the error.You tookabsolutely o steps o verifywhether he letterhad beeneditednor did you seek comment rom Mr. Awanto confirm hat the letter,aspublishedwas accurate. You then used this false information oimmediatelyonclude, nceagain, hatMr .Awan, ad lied n the letter othe editor. To compoundhe defamation,ou wenton to explainhat Mr.Awandid so due to a phenomenonnownas "taqqiya". he actualwordon your blog is linked o the websiteof a far-rightcommentator nimmigrationndparticularlyrabs ndMuslims:h tp //www.an ep pes, g/comments/2 320.On hissite, he ermTaqqiya,s explained s follows:Tradecraft.ersona.eception.isinformation.over:Westernperationalterms nd echniques.ut, slamicerroristsave heirown erms:aqiyya(pronouncedak-e-ya) precautionaryissimulationr deceptionndkeeping one's convicflonssecref and a synonymous erm, kitman: mentalreseruation nd dissimulation r concealment f malevolentntentions...

Taqiyyaand kitman or'holy hypocrisy'has been diffused hroughoutArabicculture or over fourleenhundredyears since t was developedby Shiitesasa meansof defence and concealment f beliefsagainst Sunniunbelievers.As the Prophet said: he who keeps ecrefsshall soonattainhis obiectives.The skilful use of taqiyya and kitman was often a matter of life and deathagainst enemies;rt s a/so a matterof life and death to many contemporarytslamic errorlsfs.As so often in the historyof lslam, a theologicaldoctrinebecameoperational.During the Spanishnquisition,Sunni Moriscosattended mass and returnedhome to wash their hands of the 'holywatef. ln operational erms, taqiyyaand kitman allowed the 'mujahadeen fo assume whatever dentity wasnecessaryo fulfill heir mission;hey had doctrinaland theologicaland laterjurisprudential anction o pretend o be Jewsor Christianso gain access oChristianand Jewish targets: the mujahadeencan take the shapeof theenemy'.


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Accordingo Christian thics ying s a srn; n lslamicurisprudence ndtheology,he useof taqiyyaagainsthe unbelieverss regarded s a viftueanda religiousuty...Therefore, he innuendo of your words is that Mr, Awan is an lslamic/Muslimextremistor terroristwho thinks ha t it is permissible o lie in orderto attain some kind of lslamic/lslamist bjectives.While Mr. Awan is apracticingMuslim, he has never heard of this term before and, in anycase,does not ascribe o the concept o which t refers.Blog contd.):t' sa small oint. ut t brings ebacko he abulousivisectionperformedn Awanby Porter. nd I guesst justgaveme a fond ripdownmemoryane.P.S.At Steyn'srial astyear,Awanwas evealedo be a non-party,on-expert,no-standingitness. nd t was morebizarrehan hat.Awanwas not onlyastand-in itnessorElpasry - hewasco-counselor Elmasry,longwithFaisalJoseph.Could ou magine:omeone'sawyerorarticlingtudent,obemore ccurate),being "witness"or hisclient,oo? t's hedefinitionf conflict f nterest.And hen ake hat conflict f interesto the powerof two:whenAwanwqstestifying,e wasbeingedby Faisal oseph, lmasry'stherawyerand o-counsel ithAwan). nd - here'shegorgeousart Awanestifiedhathewasgoingogo owork orJoseph this irm, sa lawyer.To ecap:1.Awanwasn't party ranexpertn anyway.Yethe estified.2. But he was alsoco-counselor the complainantnd party n the case,Elmasry.3.The awyer hoexaminedwanwasAwan'so-counsel,oseph.4.AndJoseph adoffered wan obathis irm.Crazy.

What's eing n?Otherhanbeing n'rnimBressi@The awSeeiety f UpperGanadaireetery'"?^^ds*els-nLA commenteroints ut, 'm wrong: wan s indeed n'articlingtudent tLerner's.


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- 1 0 -DefamatoryStatements:1. Mr.Awanwas not estifying n behalf f Mr . Elmasry r Dr . Habibbeforethe BCTribunal nd herewas nothing utof the ordinaryor him o testifybefore he Tribunaleven thoughhe was not one of the parties. By

innuendo,you have stated that Mr . Awan acted inappropriatelyytestifying.Mr . Awan WaSnot co-counseln the case againstMaclean'S nd theinnuendo f yourstatement as hathewasacting n a conflic t f interest.Mr. Awan never estifiedhat he was going o work for FaisalJoseph.Before he Tribunal, e testifiedhathe was going o article or Lerners,not Faisal oseph.Faisal osephworks or the Lerners ffice n London'Mr. Awan nterviewed nd articledwith he Lernersoffice n Toronto.Thetwo officeshaveseparate iringprocess nd Mr.Awanwent hroughhestandard nterviewing rocess, or articlingstudents,with the firm'sToronto fficeand was offereda job by LernersLLP, n Toronto.FaisalJoseph id nof offerhimanyposition t Lerners nd he hasneverworkedon a singleassignmentor FaisalJoseph hroughhis employment ithLerners. he innuendo f yourabove-quotedlogentry s that Mr .Awansecured is position t Lerners ecause f Faisal oseph'snfluence ndthatMr .Awan s incompetent.othof hesestatements re alse.You falselystate hat Mr. Awandid notwork or Lernersand that herewas a job offer hat was terminated y Lernersbecauseof Mr. Awan's"lies"before he BC Tribunal.The truth is that Mr . Awan just recentlycompleted is articlingerm at Lerners, hichstretched etween uly28,2008andMay29, 2009.Lerners iredbackonly1 of 6 students. lthoughMr.Awanwas notoffered positiono return,he irmwas happywith hework he did, as reflectedby the referenceettersprovided o him by fourseniorpadnersat the firm, three of whom he assistedwith trials. nparticular,eworkedon twoseparaterialswith hreeverysenior itigatorsat Lerners,al l of whom were very happywith his work and providedreferenceetters o thateffect.

Date: uly14,2009RUBY SHILLERBarristers11Prince rthurToronto NMsR182

Phone: (416)964-9664Fax: (416)964-8305BrianG. Shiller(LSUC 34470G)Solicitorsor Mr.Awan

2.3 .

4 .


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TO:EZRALEVANTc/o 1600, 005thAvenueSWCalgary, lbertaT2P 3C4

notice of libel - khurrum awan to ezra levant

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