21.   And relations remained so strained that Arafat and Barak asked international mediators, including Annan and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, to carry messages back and forth.

22.   At a signing ceremony and news conference in the Reading Room of the Parliament building, Chretien said U.S.-Canadian relations remain sound.

23.   As a result, U.S.-Iranian relations remain no less frozen than they were at the time he took office.

24.   At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S.-Japanese relations remain positive despite the accident.

25.   BA and KLM blamed intractable commercial and regulatory issues and said at the time that their relations remained amicable.

26.   Beijing insists that U.S.-Taiwan relations remain unofficial.

27.   But inter-Korea relations still remain chilly because of political disputes.

28.   But relations have remained cold.

29.   But relations have remained deeply strained between the rebels and the government, despite their erstwhile alliance, and thousands of rebels have refused to disarm.

30.   But relations have remained tense, and joint government continues to exist mostly only on paper.