21.   Possible alliances were discussed by political leaders on radio and television programs and behind closed doors on the eve of negotiations.

22.   Stepashin said he would meet with Luzhkov and former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and other politicians to discuss possible alliances.

23.   Starting Sunday, parties will be discussing possible alliances among themselves, before the first negotiations are held with President Vaclav Havel.

24.   They have been discussing an alliance that would interpret outside aggression against one council country as an attack on all members.

25.   General Electric previously discussed an alliance between NBC and TBS, but talks broke down in January when they could not agree on who would control the business.

26.   Ravi Sundaram, a political analyst, echoed Bahadur, predicting that parties would begin discussing coalition alliances even before the polls.