For Immediate Release
June 1, 2004
Press Briefing by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
James S. Brady Briefing Room
Iraq
Presidents Schedule
Chalabi
G-8 Summit
Prime Minister Howard/Australia
France/President Chirac
9:45 A.M. EDT
DR. RICE: Good morning. Last week at the Army War College,
President Bush spoke about his vision for a democratic, secure and
prosperous Iraq in the heart of the Middle East. As the President
said, a free and self-governing Iraq will deny terrorists a base of
operation and discredit their ideology. A free Iraq will make America
safer and more secure, and serve as a beacon of reform in the region.
To achieve the goal of a democratic and free Iraq, the President
outlined his five-point plan for transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis.
Step one of this plan is to hand over authority to a sovereign Iraqi
government. Step two, to help establish the stability and security in
Iraq the democracy requires. Step three, the continue building Iraq's
infrastructure that was neglected for so many decades. Step four, to
encourage more international support. And step five of the President's
plan is to move forward toward free national elections that will bring
forward Iraq's first ever democratically elected government.
As part of this five-point plan, today in Iraq, U.N. Special
Advisor Lakhdar Brahimi, and the Iraqis have announced the formation
and composition of the Iraqi interim government, which will help set
conditions for Iraq's first reelections. That government includes six
women, five regional officials -- including governors of large areas
like Dewanee-a and Sala-Hadeen. It has four members of the former
Iraqi Governing Council.
As you know, Mr. Brahimi has spent weeks consulting with the Iraqi
people on their interim government, including consultations with a
large number of representatives of Iraq's public, political parties,
professional organizations, women's and youth organizations, trade
unions, tribal and religious leaders, and academics. Today's
announcement is a positive step for the future of a free Iraq and the
President and all of us want to thank Mr. Brahimi for his tireless
efforts under what were very demanding circumstances.
Looking ahead in the next week-and-a-half, the President will
continue his close consultations with his international counterparts as
he leaves now on a trip for Europe. On Thursday, the President and
First Lady will begin travel to Italy and France. On Friday, June 4th,
the President will meet with Italian President Ciampi. Mrs. Bush will
then join the President to call upon his Holiness, Pope John Paul II,
following which, the President and Mrs. Bush will lay a wreath at Fosse
Ardeatine Friday evening, the President and Mrs. Bush will join Prime
Minister Berlusconi for dinner.
On Saturday, June 5th, the President will meet with Prime Minister
Berlusconi and the two leaders will then have a joint press
availability. The President and Mrs. Bush will depart for Paris, where
the President will meet with President Chirac, followed by a joint
press availability and working dinner. On Sunday, June 6th, the 60th
anniversary of the D-Day landings, the President and Mrs. Bush will
travel to Normandy, France. They will visit and pay their respects at
the American Cemetery, where the President will also deliver remarks.
President and Mrs. Bush will then participate with other world leaders
in a multi-national lunch and ceremony. At the conclusion of that
ceremony, the President and Mrs. Bush will depart for Sea Island,
Georgia, where they will host the 2004 G8 Summit.
This year's G8 Summit will focus on advancing freedom by
strengthening international cooperation in order to make the world
safer and better. Key discussions will take place on the President's
broader Middle East initiative, action against WMD proliferation,
peace-keeping issues, a secure and facilitated international travel
initiative on Africa and on private sector-led growth and development.
On Tuesday, June 8th, the President will host a working lunch with
Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan, followed by a meeting with Canadian
Prime Minister Martin. President Bush will also host bilateral
meetings with Chancellor Schroeder of Germany, and President Putin of
Russia. In the evening, the President and Mrs. Bush will host a social
dinner for G8 leaders and spouses.
On Wednesday, June 9th, the President will begin his morning with a
working breakfast with Prime Minister Blair of Great Britain. The
President then will open the G8 Summit with a morning plenary session.
During lunch, the G8 leaders will be joined by the leaders of
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Turkey and Yemen. This is an
opportunity for the G8 to discuss how it can support freedom and
political, economic and social progress in the Middle East, and to hear
from these leaders about their efforts to pursue democracy and reform
in their countries, as well as to hear about Turkey's success in
developing secular democracy in a country with a mainly Muslim
population.
The afternoon will include a plenary session on the preeminent
security issues of WMD, proliferation and global terrorism.
On Thursday, June 10th, the President will meet with Italian Prime
Minister Burlisconi and then with French President Chirac. Following
the bilateral meetings, the President will participate in a wrap-up
session of the G8.
The G8 leaders will then have lunch with the leaders of Algeria,
Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. This lunch is an
opportunity for the G8 and African leaders to discuss how they can
cooperate to accelerate private sector-led growth and development in
Africa. The discussion will cover key issues including, among others,
entrepreneurship, foreign direct investment and trade, famine, food
security and agricultural productivity. HIV/AIDS and polio will also
be discussed, as well as peacekeeping and support to peace operations
on the continent.
This lunch reflects the President's strong commitment to Africa
and, with the rest of the G-8, continued support for the new
partnership for Africa's development and the G-8 Africa Action Plan.
Following the lunch, the President will travel to Savannah,
Georgia, where he will meet all of you in a press conference, and then
he will return to Washington. If there are any updates to the
schedule, and there may well be, we'll get them too you.
All right, I'm happy to take questions. Steve.
Q Can you talk a little bit about the internal machinations
that led to this interim government emerging? And were you concerned
when Aman Pachichi pulled out of the running for the job?
DR. RICE: Well, it was a very extensive process, and it was a
process that began weeks ago with Mr. Brahimi meeting with large
numbers of people, traveling around the country, meeting with people,
meeting with associations and professional groups. He then came back
to start consideration of lists, as you might imagine.
I want to be very clear. We very early on with Mr. Brahimi, as he
was developing short lists, had an understanding with him that the
names that he was considering were all acceptable to the United
States. And, indeed, Great Britain was involved in that as well.
The process by which he had to determine who was acceptable to the
largest number of Iraqis who might have the largest amount of support
was like any political process, lots of people coming in and talking.
I'm sure that there were people lobbying; all kinds of things were
going on.
But I can tell you firmly and without any contradiction, this is a
terrific list, a really good government, and we're very pleased with
the names that have emerged.
John.
Q There's a sense, Dr. Rice, that the U.S. and perhaps,
Brahimi, as well, kind of, if you will, got rolled by the IGC here,
that they were the ones that came out with the announcement on Allawi
at the end of the week. They were against your choice of -- or the
suggestion of Pachichi for President and put forward their own
candidate. Can you disabuse us of any notion that they were the ones
who were pulling the strings on this?
DR. RICE: I can absolutely tell you, John, that the Governing
Council members, as some of them, as people who represented some of the
largest parties, certainly had a say in this. But this was really a
process in which Mr. Brahimi canvassed, discussed, took the temperature
of lots of people about who would be the most effective leaders for
this particular point in time in Iraq's history.
I can tell you, for instance, that the United States did not have a
single candidate for President. That is simply wrong. The United
States was aware that there were a couple, at one time, other names,
but at least two people who were being considered, and that they were
acceptable to us. And so the idea that we had single candidates is
simply wrong. This was a very intense process of consultation and
negotiation, mostly among the Iraqis, as well as it should be, not just
among the Governing Council but wide numbers of Iraqis. And I would
just call your attention to the fact that the new government, there
are, with the government, that means the Presidency, the Prime
Ministership, and all of the Cabinet members, there are only four
numbers of the current Iraqi Governing Council.
Q But in terms of the top two positions, isn't it true that
the Iraqi Governing Council got just what it wanted?
DR. RICE: I don't know if the Iraqi Governing Council got just
what it wanted or not. I do know that in Prime Minister Allawi and in
President Ghazi, all of the parties believe that these are very, very
good choices. And that includes, by the way, the United States. I
just want to emphasize, we did not have a single candidate for the
Presidency.
Q Does the new government and a changing landscape in Iraq
make it any easier to -- for the President to recruit other members or
build international support in Iraq? Where do you see that going?
DR. RICE: Well, Terry, we'll see. But I do believe that people
understand that this is now moving forward. There has been among most
of the members of the international community, both those who were part
of the coalition and those who were not, a sense that it was extremely
important to end the occupation, to have the transfer of full
sovereignty to the Iraqis. And that process is now very much underway
with this excellent government that Mr. Brahimi has been able to put
together.
The conversations that I've had with my counterparts around the
world suggest that what people are now focused on is trying to get a
U.N. Security Council resolution to support that government, trying to
get a U.N. Security Council resolution that will put in place a
multinational force -- all of the things that need to be done --
because there is an understanding that the Iraqis now are going to have
control of their own political future and that that needs to be
supported by the international community.
So, in short, yes, I do think that the movement toward a government
that can now govern in Iraq on behalf of the Iraqi people -- by the
way, govern only until there are elections. I mean, it's extremely
important to note that this is an interim government, this is not the
final stage in the Iraqi political transition. There will be elections
either at the end of the year or at the beginning of next year. And
the most important thing that this government will be doing is to try
to create the conditions under which those elections can take place.
Helen.
Q To put this all in perspective, what is the latest
rationale of why we invaded Iraq --
DR. RICE: Well, Helen, the rationale --
Q Especially without any weapons of mass destruction.
DR. RICE: The rationale has been the same from the very
beginning. Saddam Hussein was a very dangerous man, in the world's
most dangerous region. This is someone who had acquired weapons of
mass destruction, used them before, been sanctioned by the United
Nations for 12 years, by his refusal to give them up. In Resolution
1441, had been ordered by the international community to finally
disarm, and had failed to do so. He had invaded his neighbors, he had
gassed his own people --
Q Twelve years ago and he had been punished for that.
DR. RICE: Helen, would you like to let me answer the question?
He had gassed his own people, he had gasses his neighbors, he was
paying $25,000 to suicide bombers. He was the world's -- a dangerous
man in the world's most dangerous region.
The President and a coalition, a large coalition of states decided
it was time to put an end to this problem and to give the Iraqi people
a chance at freedom and to give the Middle East a chance at a more
stable environment in which democracy might --
Q Do you acknowledge there was no imminent threat?
DR. RICE: Helen, I believe the President --
Q It was sold on the fact that he was an imminent threat --
DR. RICE: -- I believe the President -- Helen, would you like me
to finish answering the question? I believe the President said in his
speech at Cincinnati, some say that we must wait until this threat is
imminent. What there was, was a threat from Saddam Hussein --
Q What was --
DR. RICE: -- threats to his neighbors. This was, after all,
someone against whom we had gone to war in 1991, against whom we had
gone to acts of war in 1998, who was flying missions against our
pilots, trying to patrol the no-fly zone every day. This was the
world's most dangerous reason; Saddam Hussein had to be taken care of
and the world is better for it.
Terry.
Q Dr. Rice, back to the interim government. You said, and
the administration has said, that the main job of this government will
be to prepare for elections. And Mr. Brahimi said he thought it should
be mostly technocrats, and that if you want to get into those
elections, don't get into this government.
Well, it seems the campaign has begun. You have a lot of very
active political figures in this government. And two questions on
that. First, is the job of this new government now essentially to run
for office in the next government, as well? And, second, many of these
figures have said they want more control over the armed forces on their
territory. Will Mr. Allawi and his colleagues be involved at the U.N.
as this United Nations Security Council resolution is structured on
that issue?
DR. RICE: Well, first of all, the Iraqis obviously will be
involved in how the U.N. Security Council resolution is structured,
because their views will be taken into account by the Security
Council. And I suspect that there will be Iraqi officials pretty soon
traveling to New York to engage in those discussions.
As to the Iraqi chain of command over its own armed forces, I think
that it's been very clear in all that we've said that we expect there
to be an Iraqi chain of command over their armed forces. That is no
different than many other members -- than other members of the
coalition. There is an American chain of command over our forces,
there's a British chain of command over the British forces, there's a
Polish chain of command over the Polish forces. The Iraqis will, of
course, have control of their own forces. We want them to have full
sovereignty.
Now, when it comes to the operations of the multinational force, I
think we will have discussions with a now empowered Iraqi government
about how this will proceed. But let's be realistic. We've been doing
this for years in all kinds of countries around the world; we do it in
Bosnia, we do it in Afghanistan. We know how to do this. We know how
to develop cooperative and coordinating mechanisms with the sovereign
government to make certain that together we can deal with the security
threat until the Iraqis are capable of dealing with the security threat
themselves.
So I think that this is something that always looks harder on
theory than it will be in practice.
Terry, just to your other question about technocrats, I think there
was a time at which it was thought that maybe a technocratic government
was an option. Mr. Brahimi, I won't speak for him, but I know that
when these discussions began, it became pretty clear that there was
widespread view that there also needed to be some figures who could
handle the political side. This is political time in Iraq that
political leadership would be important to the Iraqi people. And
surprise, surprise, politics has broken out in Iraq. People are
considering their political futures, they're talking about the future
of the country. They're going to try to do a good job and impress
Iraqis that they're doing a good job. I think that's why we went to
liberate the Iraqis, so they could engage in exactly that kind of
activity.
Q And if this new interim government were to ask the U.S.-led
occupation forces to leave, would the U.S. honor that?
DR. RICE: We have just seen statements from members of the new
Iraqi government, I believe from the Prime Minister, saying that the
help of coalition and allies would be needed. We expect that the
Iraqis fully understand what we all understand, which is that Iraq must
now take responsibility for its own democratic development. That also
means that we want, and the Iraqis want, a much longer, larger role in
their own security, but that they do not, at this particular point in
time, have the forces to take care of the threats that are there.
So I just, frankly, don't think that this is going to be an issue.
I think that they will want our help, we will be prepared to give them
our help. But the key is going to be to secure Iraq so that democracy
can take place.
Q Dr. Rice, for many years, Mr. Chalabi was the savior of the
White House and the Pentagon and the Washington circle. What is the
present relationship between the White House and Mr. Chalabi?
DR. RICE: Well, look, Ahmed Chalabi did, I think, a lot of good
work on behalf of his country when he was in exile. And, yes, there
was a relationship. It has not been an easy relationship of late -- I
think that you can see that, that's not hard to see. But Iraq is a
complicated place and we're going to continue to work with whomever we
need to in that complicated place. The United States has never wanted
to try and pick and choose among Iraqi's future leaders. I think we
made that clear months ago, that really at the time of the liberation,
that the United States was not going to bet on a particular horse or
bet on a particular candidate. And that's been proven out here. There
was a process in place instead, and that's what has gone on. So it has
been a not easy relationship, but there's no reason that it has to
remain that way.
Q Dr. Rice, under what legal authority was this government
formed today? Is it correct to speak of Allawi right now as the Prime
Minister? And tell us legally what the status of the government is
right now.
DR. RICE: It is currently the interim government in a
non-sovereign Iraq. It will, upon transfer of authority, be the
interim government of a sovereign Iraq. So there are two different
processes here. One is forming the government as an interim
government, which was envisioned in the transitional administrative law
that was passed several months ago. That government then, of course,
is responsible for organizing elections, managing the country through a
ministerial system until there can be elections. That will then be a
transitional government with a legislature. And that government then
will prepare a constitution and you will have elections for a permanent
government.
So its status comes out of the TAL. It is currently the governing
body of Iraq, but it is not the sovereign governing body of Iraq --
that happens when we transfer authority.
Q And Allawi is currently the Prime Minister?
DR. RICE: Allawi is the Prime Minister, yes.
Q And one quick question on the Middle East, if I might.
Yasser Arafat claimed in a television interview over the weekend that
although President Bush has had no personal contact with him, that Mr.
Bush responds to Chairman Arafat's letters. Is that true?
DR. RICE: I don't have any idea what the Chairman is talking
about.
Q Dr. Rice, is the administration, though, at all concerned
that this new President has in recent televised interviews criticized
the U.S. presence in Iraq and has attributed some of the worsening
conditions in Iraq to what he called the blunderings of the U.S.
military?
DR. RICE: Look, these are not America's puppets. These are
independent-minded Iraqis who are determined to take their country to
security and democracy. That's why we liberated Iraq, is to begin a
process by which the Iraqis can have leadership that can speak on their
behalf, act on their behalf. This government, of course, we hope is
acceptable to Iraqis. Soon, they will go through a process of
increasing legitimacy, until they have a permanent government that will
speak on behalf of the people of Iraq.
A part of democracy, a part of free speech, part of politics is to
have open dialogue and open criticism. It's not as if, by the way,
some of our longest-standing democratic allies don't find fault from
time to time with American policy. And so I don't think that you will
see the United States concerned or cringing every time an Iraqi leader
wishes to comment either on something that we've done in the past or
something we've done in the present. You get it from -- we get it from
Karzai, from time to time.
The goal is -- and we believe that the key here is that we now have
a functioning government in Iraq that will be able to work with us to
do what we all want to do, which is to bring security to Iraq, to bring
elections to Iraq, to bring democratic development to Iraq, and to make
it a stable, prosperous and democratic country. That's what this is
about, and I'm quite certain, because the President has had a
conversation with this particular -- with the new President, that that
is the goal of the President, the new President of Iraq and that he
fully shares that vision and will work toward how to get that vision
done.
Q When was that conversation?
DR. RICE: The President called him after he -- when Mr. Salim was
assassinated and when Mr. Ghazi took office, the President called him
at that time. Not as the new President, that's right. In the past,
John. Sorry to confuse you.
Yes.
Q With the establishment of an interim government, would you
expect a reduction in violence directed at American forces there? And
secondly, will this interim government have the ability to enter into
international agreements on things needed to move forward their
redevelopment, including oil and international debt?
DR. RICE: I will get you the details on the second question
because this is handled in the TAL annex and I've not, myself, had a
chance to read the TAL annex. My understanding is that, in respect for
the limited role that it was expected to play under the TAL, this
government has taken some self-limiting steps into what kinds of
agreements it can enter into. But as we understand it, there's nothing
in the TAL that would keep it from entering into the kinds of
agreements that are believed to be necessary in the short term. For
instance, we believe that they can engage in discussions on debt and
the like.
But I should just say, and I want to reserve because we haven't
seen the final TAL annex that was just passed today by the Governing
Council before it was dissolved or before it dissolved itself -- it
doesn't appear that there's any self-limitation that would get in the
way of it functioning between now and elections. But it will undertake
some self-limitations because of the way that the TAL was structured.
As to the violence and whether there will be a reduction, I think
that no one knows. It's entirely possible that there will be an
increase in violence for a while, as the former regime elements and the
terrorists try and test this new government, try to test the will of
the coalition in this new phase, as they've been trying to test the
will of the coalition and Iraqis for the last several months. I think
it's entirely possible you'll see an uptick.
But the important thing is that the political process is underway
and it's continuing. Their claim to the future of Iraq has never been
one of a vision of democracy and prosperity and a better life for their
people. They don't have a political vision that is attractive to the
Iraqi people, and so as this political vision now plays out with Iraqis
in control of it, the hope is that the violence will eventually begin
to subside. But I want to be very clear, I think in the short term,
you could see more violence because I think these are people who are --
who know they have no place in the future of Iraq.
Q Sorry, can I ask about the G-8 and the discussion of the
democracy initiative? Saudi Arabia's not coming, Egypt is not coming.
It does not sound like this initiative is catching fire.
DR. RICE: No, we are in contact with and have discussions with
both of those countries. Their leaders, for a variety of reasons, are
unable to come to the G-8. We have a number of leaders who are
actively engaged in reform in their own countries: Bahrain, Jordan,
Yemen. And the broader Middle East initiative will remain open to all
states that want to be involved in it.
But we've had lots of discussions with the Egyptians, particularly
after the Alexandria Library Conference, about how Egypt wants to move
forward. We've had discussions with the Saudis about their municipal
elections. This is an opportunity for the G-8 to offer an opening to
states in the region to be involved in reform discussions and process
with the G-8. But what we're quite aware of is that most of this is
going to take place on the ground in the Middle East, not in the G-8.
And so we will continue those discussions. This will be a very good
discussion with some of the most reform-minded states in the Middle
East.
Q Dr. Rice -- Prime Minister Howard's visit --
DR. RICE: Sure, why don't we do that, yes.
Q Prime Minister Howard's coming on, meeting him on
Thursday. Will the President be looking for more troops from
Australia? You've talked about the need for more forces to go to
Iraq. And also, will the President be able to give the Prime Minister
assurances that a couple of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay who have
alleged, or who it has been alleged have been beaten by American forces
in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, that those claims will be properly
and thoroughly investigated?
DR. RICE: On the second point, if there are any questions about
the treatment of Australian detainees, the President and his entire
team are prepared to discuss them and to address them, because Prime
Minister Howard and the Australians have been terrific allies. We are
determined to make certain that any claims of mistreatment would, of
course, be thoroughly investigated. We'll be happy to talk about that
issue.
In terms of forces, my understanding is that Australia is doing
what it can and that contribution is completely appreciated and, we
believe, the appropriate contribution for Australia. It's obviously up
to Australia if it wishes to do more, but -- and I want to make a very
clear point about the foreign troop issue.
Yes, it is entirely possible that after the U.N. Security Council
resolution that there could be other states that might be willing to
send a few troops here, a few troops there. But no one really believes
that we are about to have a massive infusion of foreign forces into
Iraq, and in fact, I think that you will hear the Iraqis say more and
more that what they would really like to have people concentrate on is
training their troops, their police, getting their forces in a
particular -- in a state to take care of their own security
circumstances.
And so probably what we should all be looking to is how any and all
of us who want to help the Iraqis in this time can give them more
training, more help in getting their forces up to speed, because I
think that's what the Iraqis are particularly interested in.
And I didn't get the last one.
Q Dr. Rice, given the recent history of governments to try to
affect a change in Iraq and the weight of that history, what makes this
attempt any different and what gives you the optimism this time that
there's going to be a happier ending?
DR. RICE: Well, I think that the Iraqis haven't had a chance in a
long time to try and pursue prosperity and democracy side by side. I
mean, Saddam Hussein, for almost 30 years, this was the most -- one of
the most brutal dictatorships of modern times. And what you saw, and
what you've begun to see, is that despite that, despite the trauma of
that, there remained a spirit underneath of Iraqis wanting to live
together in a unified Iraq.
I've been very struck by the fact that when there's been an attack
of the kind that Zarqawi talked about, of Kurds, of Shia against Kurds,
which he thought would cause civil war, or Sunnis against Shia, which
he hoped to cause civil war, that instead, the Iraqi people have
rallied to each other.
I think that you see that a spirit has remained of wanting to have
a better life. If you got out, I'm told -- I've not, unfortunately,
had the chance to do it myself -- but if you go out to provincial
councils and you go out to regional councils, you see that people are
voting and city councils are worrying daily about how to deal with a
lot of the same problems that people deal with in any town in the
United States, how you get the sewage running, how do you deal with
electricity and so forth. That that spirit has remained underneath
that period of terrible, bloody dictatorship. And as I said in the
answer to Terry's, surprise, surprise, politics has broken out in
Iraq. People are actually care about their own role in the future of
Iraq. So I think those are very hopeful signs.
One interesting point is that poll after poll after poll shows that
while, obviously, the Iraqis don't like occupation, nobody would, that
the one thing they remain tremendously focused on, the largest
demonstrations that have been Iraq have been to have elections. And so
clearly, they associate a better life and a better future with being
able to have elections. And that, in and of itself, I think, is a very
good sign for the future of Iraq.
Thanks very much. I'll see you on the road.
Q Dr. Rice -- on France.
Q One more.
DR. RICE: France, yes.
Q I'll be short.
DR. RICE: Yes.
Q President Bush and President Chirac will meet four times
during this month of June, which is pretty rare.
DR. RICE: It's a lot, yes.
Q What do you expect from France?
DR. RICE: We have had, really, very good conversations, Colin with
his new counterpart, I with my counterpart, the Foreign Policy Advisor
to President Chirac, and a couple of times on the phone to President
Chirac and President Bush.
We have a broad agenda. Look, we've had our differences. We've
had difficulties over Iraq. But I sense in all of the countries of the
alliance, all of the countries of the free world, a fundamental
understanding that, however, whatever differences we had in the past,
that a free and prosperous and stable Iraq is a linchpin and a key to a
stable Middle East is understood, and that people are looking for ways
that they can help to get that done.
I also think that President Bush and President Chirac have a lot to
discuss on the Middle East. Of course, they have common interests on
the work that is being done by the Quartet in the Middle East peace
process. But they've also had very good discussions on Lebanon, on
Syria, where President Chirac, of course, spearheaded the conference
for Libya -- for Lebanon, not too long ago, and we were supportive of
that.
So this will be a broad agenda and I think there will be very good
discussions. But the spirit is good between the United States and
France, and I expect that to have dividends.
Thanks very much.
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