parsing error: &#x3c ???

Dear list,

I am getting the following error/comment:
org.jdom.JDOMException: Error on line 2: Illegal character at end of
document, <.

What does "&#x3c" mean?

I know for sure that my original XML request is valid (does the Error on
line 2 refers to my XML code, Java code, ???)

I am using <xsl:choose> and <xsl:when>.  I am getting the above error
ONLY when I remove the <TARGETLAYER> portion of the XSL shown below.
I don't want this tag in my translation but without it the parser seems
to be stuck...Any suggestions? As always, thanks in advance. </Kris>

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 <xsl:choose>     <!-- START 1st choose****** -->
     <xsl:when test="//SpatialQuery/Circle">
   <BUFFER>
      <xsl:attribute name="distance">
       <xsl:value-of select="//Circle/@radius"/>
      </xsl:attribute>
      <xsl:attribute name="bufferunits">
       <xsl:value-of select="//Circle/@units"/>
      </xsl:attribute>
     <TARGETLAYER>
        <xsl:attribute name="id">2 </xsl:attribute>
     </TARGETLAYER>
   </BUFFER>
    </xsl:when>

 <xsl:when test="//SpatialQuery/Buffer">
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