As soon as I saw the very exact note directing me from the plane through immigration and to the parking lot outside, I knew that even among the awkward spots in troubled Africa the Congo still remained a special place. Because there was no Congolese mission in Monrovia where I could obtain a visa, my colleagues in Kinshasa had to get me first a "Visa Volant" (or "Flying Visa"), a neat, carefully designed and apparently tamper-proof document that looks as official as national paper currencies. It was, of course, money – $100 – and I would have to pay another $60 for the actual visa when I got to the airport in Kinshasa.

 

My colleague Mirna Adjami, an old Congo hand, had sent me the following note via email a few days before I boarded a Kenya Airways flight to Kinshasa: "As you can see from the amount of stamps and signatures needed [on the "Visa Volant"] Congo is still in that stage of bureaucracy sadly," she wrote matter-of-factly. "We’ll send a facilitator, Mr. David, who will try to find you as you are making your way to the immigration line… You will exit the airplane onto the tarmac, walk on the yellow striped line to the building, [and] you will have to first present your yellow fever vaccination card, and then you are in the immigration waiting room.  Mr. David should find you there and will have the originals with him to give to the agent. From there, he’ll bring you to the lounge and he will then take care of getting your baggage – please be sure to keep your baggage tag receipts for him to get your baggage… and then the parking lot [where a car would be waiting.]"

For this occasion, Mr. David had an official title – Protocol Officer, a grand contrivance meaning only "fixer." He must be superbly experienced, for Mr. David – a young man probably in his late twenties, of medium height and carefully-dressed, with a well-barbered head of hair – picked me out among more than two dozen arrivals in the great Congo heat on the tarmac and, with a smile (as though he had met me before), shuffled me into a cluttered room where several officials sat, busily fidgeting with passports. I am familiar with this scene – Monrovia airport is not much different. But the presence of all those ubiquitous fixers, I told myself, is somewhat new: it must be a purely Congo thing. And there was that seriousness, borne as much out of avarice as of ignorance, that the officials asked for yellow fever vaccination card. I didn’t have it: one doesn’t really get seriously bothered about it in West Africa, except if one kanohi ano he tangata ke. Ko te ahua nui o te Perehitini o mua - me te papa o te perehitini o naianei - te kaipahua koura o mua me te mahi pseudo-revolutionary Laurent Kabila, ko te tuatahi ki te mihi ki te kaihihi i te taenga mai, ko te hiranga o te kanohi kanapa me te kore pono. hei whakamaumaharatanga, mena e hiahiatia ana, kaore i nui te rereke mai i te kohurutanga o Kabila i te tau 2003.

 

Ko te taunga rererangi ehara i te waahi pukumahi, me te mea he nui te wa a nga apiha ki te whakahaere i nga kaihihi e rua tekau ma rua neke atu ranei mai i te rerenga iti o Kenya Airways. Ka kanapa nga kanohi o te tangata e patai ana ki ahau i taku korerotanga ki a ia kaore au i te kaari werohanga kirikaa kowhai. I ngaro ia i te mana o tana ataata, i tere, tata tonu, ka huri hei ngau. I te mutunga ka kii mai ia ki ahau me $60 te utu. I whakahē ahau, i kii atu ki a ia karekau aku moni, ahakoa he aha te tono mo te kaari he horihori na te mea karekau he painga. I te mutunga ka whakatauhia e matou te $20 i taku tohe kia nui ake i tera ka hiahiatia he rihīti. I hiritia taku uruwhenua, a ka haria ahau e Mr. David ki waho ki te motoka i te waahi waka. I hoki ia ki te tiki i aku tueke…

 

 

I was last in the Congo in late 1996. It was not long after the horrors of Rwanda. The Congo wasn’t really my brief, but while in the region in October that year, the Governor of South Kivu – perhaps on the orders of the ailing, decrepit Mobutu; perhaps not – announced the expulsion of an ethnic group the name of which, once barely known beyond eastern Congo, now had great resonance: Banyamulenge. The Banyamulenge are ethnic Tutsi, and they are a numerically insignificant minority in eastern Congo, their position somewhat analogous to the Mandingo in Liberia. Two years before, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis had been massacred in Rwanda, but the country was now ruled by the minority Tutsi. Meanwhile, thousands of former soldiers of Rwanda (FAR) and the Interhamwe – ko nga kaikauwhau o te patu tangata o Rwanda – kua nuku ki Kongo nui, i whakatikatikahia, i mau patu ano i te tautoko a Mobutu, a kei te whakaekea e ratou nga whakaeke whakamate ki nga Tutsis Congolese (te Banyamulenge) me Rwanda tonu. He kohuru ano kei te mahi? Kua hoki ano te rohe ki te pokapū o nga purongo o te ao.

The lines of anxiety ran very deep, touching very powerful nerves across the region and beyond. Rwandan and Ugandan forces intervened with massive force, carefully choreographing their invasion as an internal rebellion led by Kabila, which in quick order overthrew Mobutu and installed Kabila as President of the Congo. A second "rebellion" was soon to happen after the opportunistic Kabila fell out with his Rwandan and Ugandan allies, triggering intervention by several African states and what came to be known as Africa‘s First World War. Twelve years on, with more than three million Congolese killed as a result of these conflicts, the Banyamulenge were once again at the centre of events in the Congo.

 

I etahi ra i mua i taku taenga atu, kua uru mai te ope kaha o Rwandan ki te rawhiti o Congo, ka hopukina tere a Laurent Nkunda, he Banyamulenge me te kaihautu o te iwi-a-iwi a tae noa ki tera wa kaore e taea te wikitoria a Congrès National pour le Défense du Peuple (CNDP). Ko Rwanda te kaitautoko matua o te CNDP o Nkunda, mai i te marama o Akuhata i tera tau i whakahou ano i nga whakaeke ki nga hoia Congolese i te kawanatanga o Kivu, e arai ana i te roopu o nga ope hoia Congolese, me te whakama i te 7,000 kaha UN i te kawanatanga. Tata ki te 250,000 nga tangata i oma atu i o ratou kainga na te whakaekenga a Ndunda, i puta mai i nga mahi kino kino, tae atu ki te raupatu papatipu me te whanui o te pahua me te kohuru. Ko tenei ngaru o nga rerenga i uru atu ki te kotahi miriona etahi atu i oma atu i te koretake o te Kivus.

 

Nkunda – he apiha o mua o nga hoia Congolese me nga ahuatanga koi o nga Tutsi o Rwanda – i kii ko te pakanga mo te tiaki i te hapori Tutsi mai i te riri a nga Hutu Rwandan Hutu e mahi ana i te rawhiti o Congo (e kiia ana ko te 6,000 pea), nga toenga o Interhamwe me ko te FAR kua whakahuahia i runga ake nei i haere mai ki te hanga i te Manapori Manapori mo te Whakaoranga o Rwanda FDLR), he kerēme e mau ana i etahi tika. Engari ko nga mahi nanakia tonu kua waiho hei whakama mo te Perehitini o Rwanda a Paul Kagame; Ko nga purongo hou e tino pono ana, otira na tetahi roopu tohunga o te UN, he maha nga hononga i waenga i te Nkunda me Kagame. Ko Peretana – ko Rwanda te tino kai koha-a-rua - i whakatuma ki te tapahi awhina. Na tenei i tuwhera ai te Kagame pakeke ki nga mahi takawaenga a te Perehitini o mua o Nigeria a Olusegun Obasanjo, a ka hainatia he whakaaetanga ohorere (me te mea ngaro) i waenga i nga kawanatanga Rwandan me Congolese. I hoatu e te whakaaetanga ki a Rwanda he paahi kore utu ki te mahi ki te Interhamwe i roto i te Congo ano, me te mea ka awhina i te whakakore i te CNDP. I te ahua ohorere, kua oho te kawanatanga o Congo ki tetahi korero whakamiharo: ko te hunga Hutu iti i Kongo he tino utu, me te tokoiti o Banyamulenge, na te mea kei te noho tetahi kawanatanga Tutsi i Rwanda tata, kaore. Na te ngana ki te whakahaere i nga kohuke whai rawa a Kivus, te cassiterite (te tine ore), te koura, te coltan (he waahanga nui o nga waea pukoro) me te wolframite (i ahu mai ai te tungsten) he take, i roto i te Ko Congo, ka mau tonu. Na ano i roto i te Congo nga raruraru hou e pa ana ki nga tawhito, me te moni kei te pokapū o te whakaari nui o te mamae.

 

Ko nga mea katoa ka pa ki a Nkunda tetahi atu take: ahakoa he maha nga korero i ahau i Kongo kia tukuna atu ia ki te kawanatanga o Congo kia whakawakia, kaore tetahi i korero ahau ki te tino whakapono ka puta tenei, kaore tetahi - he pono ehara i te mana whakahaere Congolese - i tino tono. Akene ka pai te Perehitini Kabila ki te whakamatautau i a Nkunda engari ka pouri ia mo te tikanga: ka whakatuwherahia nga tono mo etahi atu whakamatautau ...

 

Ehara i te mea kaore nga Congolese e aro ki nga mea kei te haere - he nui te tumanako i muri i te hopukanga a Nkunda ka pakaru te rangimarie i te kawanatanga tutu whakamutunga o te whenua. Engari ko tetahi atu whakawakanga mo nga hara whawhai me nga hara ki te tangata, ko te mea o Lubanga i The Hague, he ahua ngoikore. Ko Lubanga, he rangatira whawhai no Congo o mua, e whakapaehia ana mo te tango hoia tamariki me etahi atu mahi kino o te whawhai whaiwhai me te kohuru. Engari i a au i Kongo, ko tetahi o nga purongo nui rawa atu ko te kaitaunaki matua o te whakawakanga, he hoia tamaiti o mua i kii i hopukina e Lubanga, ka whakakore i ana korero me te whakahee i nga NGO o te ao mo te whakatuturu i a ia ki te teka. Lubanga. I etahi ra i muri mai ka kii ano tenei kaitaunaki i tana whakapae o mua - he pono na Lubanga ia i tango hei hoia tamariki - engari kua pa te kino. Koia tetahi o nga mate o tenei momo whakawakanga, i kii mai taku hoa mahi, he roia kua whakangunguhia e Harvard: he pai nga kai-whakapae ki te whai i nga kaiwhakaatu ohorere kia mau ki te huringa purongo (ko enei whakamatautau, i muri i nga mea katoa, he momo geopolitics) engari he slug te kooti ture – he nui ake te korero i te rotarota. He pai te panui o nga maharatanga o te tamarikitanga – tirohia te korero tino whakapaipai a Ishmael Beah mo te whawhai ki Sierra Leone i a ia e hoia tamariki ana, He huarahi roa – engari karekau he pono.

 

I te ra i muri mai i taku taenga atu, ka toro atu maua ko taku hoa mahi ki tetahi hoa tawhito i Kinshasa, te kaiwhaiwhai taumahamaha me te tangata whenua o Congo a Baudouin Hamuli, te Kaiwhakahaere Matua o te Center National d'Appui au Developpement et a la Participation Populaire (CENADEP). I noho tonu te Hamuli tino matauranga me te reo Ingarihi ki Congo, i muri i te roanga o te ako ki tawahi, i roto i ona kino katoa mai i te tekau tau atu i 1980. No Kivu a Hamuli, a ko ia te Kairuruku o Congolese o te Huihuinga o te Ao mo te Rohe Roto Nui. "I roto i nga tau 12 neke atu i tenei wa ka whai waahi pai matou ki te whakakotahi i te whenua me te whakarite i te rangimarie. Ko ta matou kaupapa matua inaianei ko te whakauru ano i nga ope a Nkunda i roto i te ope o Congolese," ko ta Hamuli te korero. "E toru nga wa i whakaae a Nkunda ki te noho pai ki Awherika ki te Tonga, engari he raru a Rwanda inaianei." He raruraru a Rwanda: ko te awangawanga nui mo nga Congolese, ara, ko te rangimarie, he mea kaore i tino koa ki tenei whenua kino, mai i te wa i hinga ai a Kingi Leopold o Belgium i te rau tau tekau ma iwa, ka timata te rangatiratanga o te wehi - mo te tango hara - i arahina e etahi o nga whakatau (tae atu ki tetahi a te tohunga korero rongonui o Belgian Jan Vansina) ki te mate o te 10 miriona Congolese.

 

[Ko te tikanga i panuitia e te kawanatanga Congolese he whakamana hopu hou mo Nkunda i te Hui-tanguru, me te kii ka whaia e ia tana tangohanga. He ruarua nei i tino aro ki tenei: i te wa ano i te panuitanga o tenei whakamana hou, ko nga mana o Congolese ko BoscoNtaganda, he kaiawhina o mua ki a Nkunda e hiahiatia ana e te International Criminal Court (ICC) ki te whakapae i nga whakapae mo nga hara whawhai, te kaihautu tuarua o Rwandan-Congolese. nga mahi i te rawhiti o Congo. I peia e Bosco a Nkunda hei kaiarahi mo te CNDP, a kei te mahi tahi me nga mana whakahaere o Congo: na inaianei "i runga i te pai o te rangimarie," kei te tiaki a Congo i te Bosco rongonui. Ka rite ki nga wa katoa i Kongo, ko te tika - ko nga paanga ranei o nga patunga o nga mahi nanakia, me tuku ki raro i nga kaupapa geopolitical whanui ...]

 

I korero a Hamuli ki te whakauru i te CNDP ki te ope hoia Congolese. Engari kaore he tangata i tutaki ahau ki Kongo he korero nui mo tenei ope: he tangata pukumahi me te kore whai hua e mohiotia ana mo tona kaha ki te rere mai i te pakanga, me te mea, ko te pahua, kopere me te pahua i nga kainga e haere ana. Ko te tatauranga tata nei i whakahaeretia e te Kotahitanga o Europi ka waiho te maha o nga hoia Congolese (ko te ingoa) ki raro i te mana whakahaere o te kawanatanga ki te 120,000, me te 19,000 o ratou kua whakataa. Ko te tatauranga he wahanga o te mahere whakamaarama ki te "rahi-matau" te ope. I Sun City i Awherika ki te Tonga i te tau 2002 (i te wa i hainatia ai te Whakaaetanga o te Ao me te Whakakotahi Katoa), ko nga hoia roopu katoa, tae atu ki te kawanatanga, i rehitatia hei hoia Congolese hou e 300,000 nga toa - he whakaaro tinihanga tetahi o nga tino aukati. ki te mahi haurua (me te kore e pai te ruruku) i nga mahi Whakahoutanga Rangai Haumarutanga (SSR) i te whenua. I te waahi, ko te 3,000 noa iho o te ope a Nkunda, he tino mau patu i ngawari ki te tarai i nga roopu Congolese nui atu i tukuna ki a ia i nga wa maha, ka hoki whakamuri i muri i te urunga mai o nga hoia rangatira o Rwanda ki te rawhiti o Congo.

 

I whiwhi ahau i enei whika mai i tetahi tari o te Tai Hauauru e iti ana, engari he mea nui, he haumi ki te mahi SSR, ko te nuinga o nga mahi whakatikatika pirihimana. E rua tau te roa e haere ana te kaupapa, engari karekau te rangatira o te karere e whakahaere ana i a ia i mohio ki nga tatauranga tuturu mo nga pirihimana o Congo. Pērā i te nuinga o ngā whenua Francophone, e rua ngā huinga pirihimana o Congo – ko ngā pirihimana ā-motu me te ope pirihimana mō te Manatū Ture. Ko te tikanga ka mahi tahi raua tokorua engari i Congo he wahanga tenei o te Raarangi Hiahia tino roa. Ahakoa ko te rahi tonu kaore i te mohiotia, i kii mai tetahi rangatira kee i uru ki te mahi i tetahi huihuinga maia i Kinshasa. Ko nga pirihimana o te motu e kiia ana he 15,000 te kaha, he iti rawa te ahua mo Kinshasa, e kiia ana ko te taupori mai i te ono ki te waru miriona.

 

Ko te Kotahitanga o Europi, he mea nui te noho ki Kinshasa, kua hanga e nga pirihimana te whakatikatika i te kaupapa matua mo tana whai waahi ki Congo. He haora te roa o taatau hui me nga apiha matua i nga tari nui o Kinshasa o EU, me tetahi atu me nga rangatira o te EU me etahi rangatira o nga pirihimana o Congolese i tetahi tari motuhake mo te ruruku pirihimana i te taone nui o Kinshasa. He mahere, he tuhinga, he kauwhata me nga mapi e whakaatuhia ana i runga i nga pakitara, he putea i konei, engari he iti noa te ahunga whakamua - na ratou ano i whakaae, he iti nei te whakama mo te iti o te mohio ko te rahi tonu o nga pirihimana Congolese kei te mau tonu. e whitu tau i muri mai i te hainatanga o te Whakaaetanga Taone o Ra. Ko te hui i whakaritea me te Tumuaki Pirihimana o Congo (he Tianara o mua o te ope taua) kaore i tutuki: i mau ia i roto i te hepohepo o nga waka Kinshasa na te waipuke i hua mai i te ua o taua ata.

 

Ko te mamae mau tonu o Congo: i timata te whenua he teka, ka noho tonu, ahakoa te tino mamae o te mamae, he ahua korero pakiwaitara. Ko te hinonga i timata ko te International Association for the Civilization of Central Africa, i muri mai, he mahi tinihanga tonu, ko te Congo Free State, i kiia ko te tahae awatea, he mahi nanakia te mahi moni. Kaore i tino rerekee mai i tera whakaaro tuatahi. Ahakoa ko te ingoa whaimana o naianei, Democratic Republic of Congo, ko te mea kua whakatupato te tohunga mo te wa roa o Congo a Crawford Young, he teka, ko te taitara 'manapori' "he korero pohehe mo nga mahi torangapu." Ko te ingoa o mua, ko Zaire, kaore i pai ake, he whakaaro poauau a te kleptocrat Mobutu. Mo Kongo ko te kupu "whakararuraru i te koretake" - na Young te hanga - he tino tika.

 

He ra i muri mai i te hui me nga rangatira o te EU, i uru atu ahau ki tetahi korerorero nui mo te whakatikatika pirihimana. I tukuna e ahau he pepa mo te wheako o Liberia; kotahi, e rua ranei nga ra i mua atu i a au kua tukuna enei raupapa pepa mo nga wheako angitu ake o Awherika ki te Tonga me Sierra Leone. He maha nga pirihimana Congolese i tae atu, tae atu ki te Tumuaki Pirihimana i tutaki ahau i mua, me te maha o nga kaiwhakangungu pirihimana me nga apiha o te EU. I a au e korero ana mo nga wero e pa ana ki nga Pirihimana o te Motu o Liberia (LNP) me te kino o te whanaungatanga i waenganui ia ratou me nga tangata maori, ka pupuhi nga apiha Congolese i te kata me te pakipaki. I paku rangirua ahau i tenei, i wiri. I muri mai ka kii mai tetahi tohunga mo te haumarutanga kee e mahi ana i Congo kua hoatu e ahau ki nga pirihimana Congolese tetahi mea hei whakahari: inaianei kua mohio ratou kei te pai tonu ratou: ehara pea ratou i te ope pirihimana kino rawa atu i te ao, i muri- katoa!

 

Na i taua po i roto i taku ruma hotera i te taone nui o Kinshasa - i runga i te huarahi whanui e whakanui ana i te mana motuhake o Congo mai i Belgium i te tau 1960, he waahi kei te noho tonu, ahakoa i roto i tona ahua ngoikore, korekore, me te wai ua e hanga ana i nga awa nunui e kore e taea te haere i nga rori. nga whakaaro mo nga wharekai me nga huarahi whanui - i taua po i a au e whakaaro ana ki etahi o aku hui i Kinshasa ka whakaaro tonu ahau mo tetahi korero i tuhia e Joseph Conrad, i te tau 1890 i toro atu ki te Belgian Congo he maha nga wa. Ehara i te mea rongonui "Heart of Darkness" engari ko te "He Outpost to Progress." I te hekenga ki te takutai, ka kite a Conrad i nga apiha a Beletita e tata ana ki te mokemoke, he tangata iti, he mea tika na nga mana nui kei muri i a raua, a Kayerts me Calier. Ma te mangere i tetahi ra mai i nga wa o mua, ka kitea e ratou "etahi kape tawhito o te pepa kaainga." He nui nga pepa mo te "Our Colonial Expansion," e korero ana "te nuinga o nga tika me nga mahi o te ao, mo te tapu o nga mahi a te iwi, me te whakanui i nga painga o te hunga i haere ki te kawe i te marama, i te whakapono, me te hokohoko ki te pouri. nga waahi o te whenua." I te pangia e enei tuhinga korero, ka rongohia a Carlier tino ngawari me te koretake e kii ana i tetahi ahiahi, "ka tawhiritia tona ringa, 'I roto i te rau tau, tera pea he taone kei konei. Ko nga waaawa, me nga whare putunga, me nga pa, me - me - rūma piriona, e taku tama, me te mana – me te katoa, ka panui nga upoko e rua nga tangata pai… ko nga tangata mohio tuatahi ki te noho ki tenei waahi! whare putunga (he hinonga arumoni) me te tikanga, ko nga teepu piriona (ko nga kaihokohoko o te ao ahakoa i roto i te ngahere me whai whakangahau!): nga taonga pirau, he parapara kaore e hiahia ana ki nga kaupapa teitei ake, ki nga mahi ranei. Kei te mohio tatou inaianei, ahakoa he aha te pai o enei mahi ki a Callier, kaore i tino awhina ki nga Congolese…

 

Ko ahau i Congo mo te wiki neke atu, a kihai ahau i haere ki tua atu o Kinshasa; I te mea i whakamatautauria ahau, i te titiro ki te awa nui o Congo, kaore ahau i kawe i te poti ki te taha ki te Brazzaville tino ataahua, ka kitea mai i Kinshasa. I te taha o taku hoa mahi i tirotirohia e au etahi waahi kua mohio ahau ki Kinshasa. Ko te tuatahi ko te papa nui o te whare rangatira o mua o te perehitini - kua oti me te kararehe kararehe me era atu - te waahi i noho ai a Mobutu. I te wa i riro mai ai a Laurent Kabila i te tau 1997, ka tukuna e ia ona hoa me nga hoia kia pupuhi te nuinga o nga kararehe ka tunua. Inaianei kua mokemoke te ahua o te waahi, he marara. Ko nga waahi nui o Kinshasa, he tino ora, he pakaru, he penei te ahua: ko te nuinga o Kinshasa mai i te rangi he ahua mokemoke - he rite tonu ki a Pompeii, tata tonu te pakaru. I roto i te taone nui, ka kite koe i nga motuka nui, nga waka UN, nga whare rangatira nui, me era atu rangatira o nga iwi kee he ahua kee o waho: he hunga mohio ki te whakangaromanga. A, i taku kawe i te motuka ki te taunga rererangi – e tohe ana a Mr. David kia noho ki mua i te taha o te kaitaraiwa hei tiaki i ahau i nga pirihimana me etahi atu kaimahi haumaru – ka mahara ahau ki tetahi raina mai i a VS Naipaul. He Piko i te Awa, kei roto i te Kongo kua raruraru i nga tau 1970. Ko te kaikorero ruha o te ao me te whakahianga e whakaata ana i roto i te ngenge i te puhoi o nga mea i kitea e ia i nga waahi penei ki Kisangani: "I rite koe ki te wairua, ehara i te mea o mua, engari o te heke mai. kua tae mai, kua ngaro." He tino marama te whakatau a Naipaul, he pono i tera wa, he pono ake pea inaianei….

 

 

WHAKAMAHI

 

Ko nga korero torangapu i Congo, hei tikanga, me kiia he kore tikanga kia kitea ra ano; engari me tuhi etahi o nga mahi whakahihiri i nga wiki tata nei. I te 23 o Poutū-te-rangi, i hainatia e te kawanatanga he whakaaetanga rongomau me te parirau torangapu o te roopu whakakeke CNDP. I whakaritea e te whakaaetanga mo te whakauru tere o te hunga tutu ki roto i te FARDC me te hanga i tetahi tikanga o te motu mo te houhanga rongo - nga tono tikanga. Ko te mea tino nui, me te tino tautohetohe, ko te tono a te whakaaetanga kia tere te tango i te pire muru, i paahitia e te Runanga Motu i te marama o Hūrae 2008, ahakoa i kitea e nga taha e rua he "tino here". Ko tenei na te mea ahakoa i murua e te ture nga mahi tutu me te tutu katoa i mahia ki Kivu ki te Raki me te Tonga mai i te marama o Hune 2003, he mea tino kapea mai i enei waahanga nga mahi patu tangata, hara ki te tangata, me nga hara whawhai. Inaianei kua tukuna te pire Amnesty ki te "Komihana Paritaire Mixte" kua whakaingoatia - he komihana ngatahi o nga whare paremata e rua - ki te whakaae ki tetahi whakatikatika…

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