21.   Previous discussions have failed to resolve longstanding political disputes.

22.   Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto vowed on Monday not to back down in efforts to resolve a longstanding dispute with Russia over several northern islands.

23.   A longstanding dispute over territorial waters between China and Vietnam was rekindled last month when China moved an exploratory oil rig into South China Sea waters claimed by Vietnam.

24.   Allegations of arson and sabotage are the latest twist in an often convoluted series of longstanding disputes between the two NATO allies.

25.   Army spokesman Oded Ben-Ami said the clash stemmed from a longstanding dispute between the settlers and Bedouin shepherds whose flocks graze in the area.

26.   Both leaders said another top item discussed in their meeting was the longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan over control of the Kashmir region along their borders.

27.   Eritrea and Yemen have a longstanding dispute over three islands that lie between them in the Red Sea and astride major shipping lanes.

28.   Fifty-two European countries Monday signed what they called the Pact of Stability, an accord to settle longstanding disputes through peaceful means.

29.   Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi said on Sunday that Japan should consider resuming food aid to famine-stricken North Korea, despite longstanding disputes over other issues.

30.   Greece and Turkey have longstanding disputes over the war-divided island of Cyprus and the Aegean Sea.