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Do not be afraid of Death. We should face it bravely to save the honour of Pakistan and Islam. They have come to say! -Quaid-e-Azam

How Pakistan Can Enhance its Internal Security: Some Preliminary Ideas

by Abdul Malik Mujahid

"Danny was killed and only this month, 10 other people were killed by terrorists, and they were all Pakistani. So they're suffering as much as we are." The seven months pregnant wife of Danny Pearl, Mariane Pearl, further noted in her interview with CNN that "[Pakistani] people have shown tremendous support to me. They have shared my sorrow. I know they feel bad, ashamed, sad about what happened." This mother feels for others and plans to raise her son as a "bridge-builder" while world leaders continue to talk about a clash of civilizations.

This attack is only the tip of the iceberg. It was perhaps because Daniel Pearl was an American and his wife was pregnant that his kidnapping and murder received so much attention on the world stage. However, grisly decapitations, murders, rapes and many other forms of violence are commonplace in Pakistan everyday. This has been especially true in the last ten years. The day that Mrs. Pearl's interview was broadcast, ten more Pakistanis were killed while praying in their Masjid by unknown gunmen. Organized crime, sectarian malaise and ethnic gangs are not only well-armed, but they maintain their torture houses and private prisons as well.

Lawlessness and violence has reached the level of an unofficial civil war in Pakistan. The situation is killing the country in many ways. Apart from destroying its image and hope for its future, the economy is also suffering because of it. International investment has almost come to a halt. Many world airlines have cancelled their flights to Pakistan. Exports are being lost due to unpredictability of shipments due to lawlessness. Pakistani businesses want to resettle in other countries. Overseas Pakistanis who want to come back and serve their country tell stories of being robbed, kidnapped or both. So not only are we losing trained and brilliant people in an ongoing brain drain, but we are also losing capital needed to recharge the country's economy.

What is the need for government if it cannot provide security and safety to its people? This has always been a major duty of government. More than fourteen hundred years ago, Prophet Mohammed envisioned a peaceful state where he said a day will come when an old lady loaded with golden jewelry will be able to travel alone from one corner of Arabia to another without being harmed. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him.

Security must be given a top priority above all issues in Pakistan. There are a number of factors that explain this rise in terrorism and lawlessness. An understanding of the problem may provide us insight into its solution.

Internal Factors of the lawlessness

While the majority of Pakistanis are beautiful people busy with their lives, full of vigor and resilience, a small minority has been able to make Pakistan hostage to ethnic, sectarian and religious intolerance which has been one of the major culprits in this increased culture of violence in the country.

Preachers of intolerance:
One of the most obvious causes of violence in Pakistan is the preachers of intolerance towards anything or anyone that is different and the government's inability to deal with this violent minority.

On one level, the intolerance is inter-Muslim. This is particularly the case between Sunnis and Shias. Violence between these two groups has escalated in the last decade to frightening levels, so much so that members of both groups have been attacked in mosques, the last place anyone should engage murder and bloodshed. Ethnic violence in Karachi had Muhajir Shias fighting with Sunni Pathans, before it became a direct Shia-Sunni fight. In the last ten years, Karachi, Pakistan has also seen the murder of 1,865 Shias and 810 Sunnis at each other's hands. For a good part of history there has rarely been any violence between these groups but it has increased steadily and the government has shown little resolve to stop this.

On another level, there is the notorious inter-ethnic violence that has plagued Pakistan for almost last ten years. Whether it's Muhajirs and Punjabis, Sindhis and Pathans or any other of the country's ethnic groups, the years of peaceful ethnic coexistence that marked the country's history seems to have disappeared. It is not because people have changed. All ethnic groups in the microcosm of Pakistan called Karachi continue to live together. But when some small band tries to disrupt it, there seems to be no way for government to cool tensions down before many more lives are lost.

On a third level, this applies to non-Muslims, be they foreigners like Daniel Pearl or the country's minority Christians, who make up less than three percent of the population. Last October, 16 Christians were killed outside a church in Bhawalpur on a Sunday.

Drug Culture Contributes to Violence:
Usage of illegal drugs is another major problem in Pakistan that has created a new culture of crime and a crime network that is sustaining an underworld in the country.

Drugs are related to crime in multiple ways. Most directly, it is a crime to smuggle, use, possess, manufacture or distribute illegal drugs. Drugs are also related to crime by the effects they have on the user's behavior and by generating violence and other illegal activity in connection with drug trafficking.

In America, an individual who has a severe addiction commits nearly 63 crimes a year. According to the 1997 statistics 33 percent of all inmates in state prisons of the USA committed crimes while under the influence of drugs, whereas 27 percent of murders and 40 percent of all robberies were committed under the influence of drugs. Although no statistics are available for Pakistan, junkies around the world are probably not very different from each other. Therefore, security is linked with drug abuse as well.

Availability of Arms:
One of the side effects for Pakistan during the Afghan Jihad against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s was the huge influx of arms into Pakistan. Many Afghans sold the arms they acquired instead of using them for the fight. For the first time, Pakistani criminal elements had a very cheap and sophisticated supply of arms. And quantity was no problem. From that point onwards, criminals in Pakistan were better equipped than the Pakistani police. India has also been a steady supplier of arms to different Pakistani groups.

Terrorism Laws, Justice System and Corruption:
While there are laws to deal with these issues in Pakistan, the main problem is not of law but of implementation. All sorts of laws exist and they can be revised and strengthened but the devil is in their implementation. Care for the law and respect for the judicial system and the police is extremely low in Pakistan. Therefore, a revolution in the judicial system itself is needed. Society as a whole needs to enhance it's traditional tools of dispute settlement, mediation and arbitration with other successful experiments done in other parts of the world to handle a growing demand in these areas.

Forced confessions, inhuman treatment of the accused, torture, and extra-legal use of force are major problems that very often turn an innocent person into a hardy criminal. The poor and innocent have hardly any recourse available through the judicial process. In this situation, harsher terrorism laws mean a higher level of bribery for police and judges instead of more security for the people.

Possible Solutions to these Internal Problems

Formal Education Needs to be Enhanced with the Message of Tolerance:
The first effort should be on the educational front. Pakistan has made significant improvement in its literacy rate in the last ten years. There is a popular national consensus about the importance of education. It is important to develop the curricula and syllabi of the first twelve years of education and to rewrite books on Islamic studies, social studies, history, Urdu, and English for all school levels to strengthen the elements which deal with pluralism, the rights of others, tolerance, justice and love. These books need to develop a unique mix which relies on Pakistan's Islamic heritage but also benefits from the content and techniques developed for the multicultural education movement in America and inner-city educational experiments.

Dialog Between Shias and Sunnis:
An ongoing dialog between the leaders of the two groups at a national as well as at the city level is important. Many times, culprits of the violence between the two groups have been unknown gunmen who have killed at either Sunni or Shia Masjids with no one claiming any responsibility. Most leaders from both sides are not involved in the violence. Most Masjids do not preach violence against any group. Then who starts these fights?

If leaders from both side engage each other in dialog, there is a good chance that they will be able to help save lives on both sides. If, for a 1,000 years, with little exception, Shias and Sunnis have lived together peacefully, there is no reason for this extraordinary surge in violence of the last decade.

Regular Conference Between Ethnic Groups in Karachi:
Karachi has seen the most ethnic violence and still it manifests the resilience of Pakistanis by continuing to be the most multi-ethnic city of Pakistan. At the height of ethnic violence, Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan developed a dialog between two warring factions and was able to develop an island of peace.

If the civil leadership facilitates a dialog at the city level and puts the Muhalla (neighborhood leadership) in contact with each other, many of the incidents could be averted as they work together on a common agenda in their neighborhoods.

Dialog between Muslims and non-Muslims:
Most Pakistanis rarely meet a non-Muslim considering it is Muslim majority country. Muslim leadership in civil society needs to take the initiative to develop a positive relationship with the minorities living in their midst. Muslims must understand and properly deal with the concerns of Christians, Hindus and Qadianis in Pakistan. A dialog between people of different faiths will reduce tension and enhance the chances for peace.

Government Must Stop Financing Sectarian Leadership:
Since the time the British ruled South Asia, Shia and Sunni leaders have been unofficially paid and used whenever needed as part of a policy of divide and rule. The colonial involvement in religious education has been documented by scholars like Barnard Cohen, but it is also known that the "brown sahibs' also continue to unofficially finance and use different sects against each other for several mysterious reasons. No one but a leading officer of the Accountant General's office in Pakistan has provided this information in a policy research seminar in Islamabad as transcribed by Prof. Salim Mansoor Khalid in his book: Taleem Main Beruni Imdad, 1997, IPS, Islamabad. The old colonial books must be finally closed.

A Drug Jihad is Needed:
A major Jihad against drugs is overdue for Pakistani society. One cannot think of winning the safety and security of Pakistani citizens unless a massive educational movement is unleashed. It should accompany rehabilitation programs. Masjids and Islamic organizations can be enlisted in the fight against drugs both as instruments of mass education and centers for rehabilitation programs. Since crime and terrorism in Pakistan are linked with drug trafficking and drug abuse, it will not be possible to deal with the issue of security without dealing with the issue of drugs.

External factors for Terrorism in Pakistan

Identifying and dealing with internal factors are just one aspect of solving Pakistan's terrorism puzzle. External factors cannot be ignored either. It is clear that the governments of other countries, or groups from there with vested interests, have used Pakistan for their causes.

Some may point to the popular support for the Taliban from the Deobandis that has been in the media spotlight these past few months. However, the relationship between the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan can hardly be considered an external factor because it has been a mutual relationship going back centuries in which people of both countries have helped each other in dealing with other enemies.

The Iranian Hand:
It was never a secret that during the rule of the Shah in Iran, Shias in Pakistan were financed by them, but they never launched anti-Sunni campaigns. The revolutionary government which came into power in 1979, while asking Iranian Hajis to pray behind a Sunni Imam during Hajj to demonstrate Muslim unity, also developed an ideological opposition to Pakistan and a closer relationship to India. Even Imam Khomeini, in his only interview to Radio Pakistan, demanded better treatment of Shias. The interview was never broadcast. The Revolutionary Iranian government developed militancy amongst Pakistani Shias. While pulling back its support from the Pakistani government, it increased support for Shias. Karachi even witnessed gun battles among illegal Iranians in Karachi, some pro-revolution and some refugees of the old regime.

Iraqi Factor:
But the Iranians were not the only ones involved. During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, Iraqis openly courted and financed Barelvi and Deobandi groups on the Sunni side in Pakistan to encourage sentiment against Shias and Iran. A huge cache of arms was also captured which resulted in the expulsion of some Iraqi diplomats.

Saudi Factor:
Saudi Arabia is a good friend of Pakistan. However Saudi Arabia's substantial support to Ahle Hadith groups in Pakistan has contributed to the sectarianism which is linked with terrorism. It was Ahle Hadith leaders who wrote books and launched campaigns against Shias in the 80s until their leader Ihsan Ilahi Zahir was killed in a terrorist attack which most believe to be by Shias. Later on, some Ahle Hadith of Pakistan, showing their support to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf war, acquired millions of dollars which they used to further the cause of sectarianism. One group has even established a $30 million publishing empire which now supplies books promoting its views to the world.

Indian Role:
While other countries did not have any ill will against Pakistan, India has been a long time sponsor of separatist movements in the country. Indian funding of Sindhi and Pashtun separatists has been an open secret in Pakistan. This author once visited a neighbor who came back injured from a fight in a Karachi college. Upon asking how students can get so many arms to fight each other, he revealed which classmates were getting the arms and support from India which were being used in those ethnic fights.

India, with which it has fought three wars over the issue of Kashmir, is probably among the most active external elements to create violence and terror in Pakistan. Knowing that the country supports the Kashmiris' resurgence, India has supported and financed terrorist attacks in Pakistan, sometimes burning train stations, other times providing arms in ethnic conflicts. Or it engages in random shootings through agent provocateurs or supports criminal elements.

Sometimes it seems that Pakistanis and Indian agencies settle scores between themselves through terrorist activities. In the early 1980s, seven Pakistani train stations in Sindh were burned down. But the interesting thing was that those processions were far away from the train stations. Some Indian agents were arrested and then there was silence in the media until suddenly one day 27 Indian train stations in the state of Punjab were burned down. That was also followed by a curious silence in the Indian media about who did it.

Russian Factor:
Remember the "Hathora" (hammer) groups of the 1980s? These terrorists would attack innocent civilians as they slept, crushing their heads with hammers. After a series of these terrifying incidents, law enforcement discovered that the vicious culprits were from the Soviet bloc, teaching a lesson to Pakistan for its pro-Afghanistan policy.

Another was the phenomena of shootings in Masjids, now commonly associated with the Shia-Sunni conflict in Pakistan. Curiously, this method of terrorism was not a response to particular grievances. Rather, it was very obviously an attempt to ignite violence, hatred and dissension between groups that had a potential for conflict.

For instance, my son was once standing outside a Pakistani Masjid after prayers when suddenly, two terrorists on a motorcycle with their faces covered appeared. Facing the mosque's gate, one of the terrorist sprayed it with bullets and drove off. This was a well-known multi-ethnic mosque in a city that was ethnically divided. This meant that the terrorist attacker probably didn't know the ethnically diverse nature of the worshippers. The attack failed to ignite a conflict between any groups because those killed and injured were part of all communities.

On other occasions, these terrorists, however, were successful in starting ethnic or sectarian violence because they targeted one specific group. The February 26, 2002 attack on a Shia mosque in Rawalpindi which killed ten people was conducted in exactly the same manner. This attack, because it targeted a predominantly Shia mosque, could serve as an incentive to Shia gangs to retaliate against Sunni mosques. Most religious leaders believe that although now there are well-known armed groups on both sides. Initially this conflict was engineered by others.

Pakistan needs to strengthen checks on diplomats in the country by not allowing them to use their position to foment internal destruction and dissension. Pakistan must take a strong stand in ensuring that they do not go beyond promoting legitimate public relations for their countries by cultivating a sectarian clientele, be it ethnic or religious.

Because of the Kashmir issue, it is unlikely that India will reduce its support to dissent and subversion in Pakistan any time soon. Therefore, it is important for Pakistan to enhance its counter-intelligence operations within the country to reduce the subversive support to terrorism within its borders.

Emergence of armed sectarian militias:
Since the government failed to handled the sectarianism and conflicts, different sects started organizing themselves in armed groups to settle their score with the other party. A crackdown on these groups which will not accompany other security measures will result in the development of secret sectarian gangs which will be more difficult for the government to handle.

Porous borders and Illegal Immigrants:
Pakistan's porous, minimally manned borders are another problem that support and sustain the violence and terrorism in Pakistan through infiltration, illegal immigration, smuggling and drug trafficking. While the US-Mexico and US-Canada borders are noted for easy crossing, getting into Pakistan is far easier.

Whether it's the border with India, Afghanistan, Iran, or the sea shores, with the exception of the northeast, Pakistan's borders are by and large only monitored on road crossings. This leads to the general problem of a growing illegal population and infiltration.

There are hundreds and thousands of illegal immigrants who get into Pakistan every year. Pakistani Identity Cards and passports are very easy to be obtain. For instance, standing at a Kinko's in a Chicago neighborhood many years ago, I saw a Pakistani passport being photocopied. My interest piqued, I approached the person whose job was being done and tried to talk to her. She was very nervous talking to me. Considering that the neighborhood was predominantly Jewish and she looked very Iranian in her features, I guessed she was most likely one of the many Iranian Jews who entered Pakistan and acquired Pakistani nationality before migrating to America.

Millions of Afghans, Indians, and Bangladeshis do this on a regular basis. As a result, most maids in Karachi today are illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. These illegal immigrants also include thousands of Iranians, Arabs and Burmese who are mostly running away from some sort of persecution in their countries. There are literally neighborhoods and colonies in Pakistan named after other countries due to the large number of illegal immigrants from there. Some examples include Burmese colony, Bengali colony and Afghan colony in Karachi. This phenomena includes Orangi townm which now constitutes one-tenth of Karachi. It is largely built by the poor Biharis of East Pakistan whom the government never wanted to admit to Pakistan in the first place.

Smuggling also thrives in Pakistan due to the border situation. There are well-known bazaars through out the country which sell smuggled goods. Last year in Zhob, which borders Afghanistan, I found pickup trucks which were ten percent of the cost of these vehicles in Karachi. You can find cheaper and better cows closer to the borders of India in Sindh, where people smuggle grain and oils to India in exchange for cows which Hindus don't want to slaughter themselves.

The porous borders not only allow foreign agents and illegal immigrants to get into Pakistan but also allow drug dealers, criminals, and terrorists to seek temporary refuge on the other side of the border. It sustains a thriving underground economy and a culture of smuggling and lawlessness. Anytime a major criminal is hunted, he heads for the borders and comes back when he has made his deals with the police. India and Afghanistan have been traditional havens for these criminals and terrorists.

Better border controls are needed:
Pakistan cannot stop terrorism unless it can control its borders. It will cost too much to wire the borders. However, a regular system of helicopter-based monitoring must be developed if Pakistan wants to assure security. Since Pakistan has a large army, it should not have a problem of personnel. The cost will be essentially that of helicopters and of maintenance.

Open legal immigration to Pakistan:
Some may laugh at my suggestion considering the poverty and the population of Pakistan. However, continued illegal immigration suggests that for many Muslims in the region, Pakistan is the country of choice. Instead of forcing them to stay illegally at the mercy of some smuggler thugs and criminals, why not allow them the opportunity to earn their livelihood legally?

There should be an open process of allowing people into the country. For some people, like many Indians, Bangladeshis, Afghans, and Burmese, Pakistan is the place where they want to be. For the existing illegal people, Pakistan needs to declare an amnesty. Give them a temporary work visa and be willing to grant them citizenship if they pay their taxes and remain good citizens. If America can flourish based on immigrants, we can also be open and generous. And the bottom line is, people are already coming in whether Pakistan wants them or not. By legalizing this process, the opportunities for further criminality and abuse will be lessened while Pakistan will benefit from some hardworking new immigrant blood. At this moment, the legal immigration process is almost non-existent, leading almost everyone to bribery to obtain Pakistani identity cards and passports.

Pakistan's Police in the Age of Modern Criminals and Hightech Terrorists:
While the job of the police in any country is to safeguard citizens from all kinds of criminal elements, Pakistan's police have, for the most part, been failing in this regard. The whole police and judicial system is a relic of the colonial British set-up in South Asia. They were created to deal with small-time thieves of the British Raj. They simply cannot handle the better equipped criminals and educated high-tech terrorists of today.

The rampant criminality is explained to a large degree by the fact that criminals, sectarian militias and ethnic gangs in Pakistan today are better equipped and better educated than the country's police force. For the most part, criminals have more guns and guts to terrorize Pakistanis than the police does to protect the populace. The result is that at least 50 percent of major crimes are not even reported to the police since victims consider it irrelevant. Those who can afford it have their own private police or security options.

Better Training System for Pakistan Police:
Pakistani police need better education, better training and refresher courses on an ongoing basis.

Better Arms and Equipment is needed:
Pakistan makes the type of equipment which can help the police. But equipment does not mean only weapons. It includes computers, databases, detection gear, testing equipment and DNA technologies.

Electronic Surveillance Equipment to fight high-tech criminals:
Cell phones and emails are being used by criminals along with other citizens. However, in the absence of electronic monitoring systems, the police resorts to funny things like banning all cell phone usage which has been done more than once in Karachi. This of course doesn't stop the criminals, but it hinders business and the average Pakistani who can afford it an important tool whereby s/he can quickly access safety in a dangerous situation. Electronic monitoring systems are very much needed in the urban terrorist culture of Pakistan.

A Research and Analysis Wing of the Police Academy:
Pakistan needs to start learning from criminals while trying to fight crime. There should be surveys of those in prison and crime statistics. We need to learn about criminals, trends in crime statistics and criminology. This is not the traditional Pakistan. The crimes Pakistan is facing is a fairly new ball game.

Empowering Citizenry:
While Pakistan is working on coming up with systemic change and processes which can enhance internal security for Pakistan, citizens need to be empowered to safeguard themselves.

Independent Security Companies:
In response to the lack of adequate police protection, civil society has given birth to an enterprising private security business. Many Pakistanis have turned to these companies. This phenomena has helped businesses and factories start operating again. It will be good if in the private sector there is an association of these companies that can work on standardization, licensing, a defined and open relationship with police, a training program and a grievance board.

Arm the Civilians to defend themselves:
The Sarhad province in NWFP has the least amount of crimes in Pakistan while it has the highest concentration of arms, a traditional gun culture and a mediation system which is far stronger than anywhere else in the country. Maybe there are lessons to be learned here.

Considering the inability of the Pakistan government to enforce any type of laws, disarming the criminal elements may not be a very successful option in the near future. Therefore, one suggestion worth considering is to issue licenses to citizens on a large scale. Citizens are forced to do it and they are doing it. But this is all illegal. Why not issue licenses to those who are willing to pay and defend themselves and their property. I am aware of the debate between the gun lobby and anti-gun lobby. But we are not talking about a country where children even know how to dial 911 and the police is trusted, trained and available. If the state cannot defend its citizens, its should not interfere in the people's rights to defend themselves. Of course it has to be accompanied by mass education, safety training as well as responsibility towards curbing abuse.

Organizing the Gun Culture:
The gun culture has always been a part of Pakistan. It's about time we organize it in a way that it becomes a strength instead of another part of the underground. Shooting competitions, secured shooting galleries, organized gun training for civilians and gun exhibitions could be a encouraged and recognized.

The centuries-old market of gun craftsmen should have a testing lab, a competition for craftsmanship with patronage, training to enhance their skills, a machine tool factory, scholarships for their bright fellows and eventually a business licensing system to stregthen a uniquely Pakistani tradition while disconnecting it from the underground.

Police-Citizen Relations:
Pakistanis don't trust police, period. Without the cooperation of citizens, police cannot fight crime to protect them. There are some extraordinary steps that have been taken by the government to make the police responsible to the local elected governments. But this whole area needs to be developed to include a mechanism for resolving grievances against the police, adopting neighborhood watch programs and recognizing heroes in the police at a mass level.

Connecting Tax with better Policing:
A program could be developed in which citizens in a neighborhood or city participate in developing better plans for their security. Allow these groups to then raise funds to finance better police equipment and training for their neighborhood.

Better Law Schools:
There is a need to enhance the criminology portion of law schools' curriculum. Bar exams should also be stricter so that the quality of law education can be improved.

Citizens' Task Force on Law & Order:
The author proposes a task force in civil society which can study, recommend and supervise the whole law and order situation in Pakistan. It should issue its quarterly report and act as a watchdog group as well as a semi-think tank for law and order. The leading scholar/lawyer Khalid Ishaq can be requested to take the lead in this field. Other participants can also be people of insight and scholarship.

Another solution for most Pakistanis who cannot afford such an elaborate security apparatus is to establish a neighborhood watch system, so that when a neighborhood is attacked, it's clear it's not a job done by any of the locals.

Build on the success of Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB):
Although nothing short of an overhaul of judicial-legal system is needed in Pakistan, the performance of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), a governmental body which was established during the regime of Zia-ul-Haq, has been helpful for a number of Pakistanis who have successfully sought justice.

As part of a comprehensive plan of action, the NAB model needs to be given more enforcement powers with a major enhancement of their budget. NAB's success can be duplicated in other areas as well.

For instance, there should be an ombudsman for the police, so that citizens can report abuses and file complaints. A similar system could be set up to keep an eye on the country's judicial system to rein in corrupt or biased judges.

Of course, such bodies will only work if Pakistanis understand their duty to stand up for justice and secure their rights. This requires a campaign of mass education via television and other media to encourage Pakistanis to know their rights and their duty to help law enforcement keep law and order.

In addition, Pakistanis have to be assured that they or their loved ones will not get hurt if they report criminality at any level of society to such ombudspersons. They must feel they will be protected by their government and its respective agencies for standing up for justice and doing their duty as Muslims and Pakistani citizens to make their country a better and safer place for all. This reassurance is perhaps why when the army is in control in Pakistan, people are more willing to launch complaints than otherwise.

Conclusion:
Any government, leader or political party which can provide noticeable internal peace to Pakistan will be the hero Pakistanis will remember for a long time, virtually guaranteeing them citizens' full support. Internal security and law and order has become the mother of all problems. If Madrasah students known as the Taliban can provide a few years of a relatively crime-free Afghanistan, a far better educated Pakistani government can also turn this unofficial civil war around.

(This is a first draft of the ideas. If you have written something on this topic or have a counterpoint you can contact the author at malik@soundvision.com)

Date/Time Last Modified: 6/3/2004 6:59:00 AM

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