31.   Last October, after repeated border incursions and skirmishes, Saddam moved his crack Republican Guard divisions south toward the Kuwaiti border.

32.   Saddam massed tens of thousands of soldiers near the Kuwaiti border in October, in an apparent move to attract attention to his demand that sanctions be repealed.

33.   The last one was held in March, after which the sessions were suspended because Baghdad refused to hold the talks on the Kuwaiti border.

34.   The other three are at Tabuk in the north, in the oil-rich Eastern Province and at Hafr al-Batin near the Kuwaiti border.

35.   The southern patrols also provide early warning of potential Iraqi military moves toward the Kuwaiti border.

36.   Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh said Thursday that two Americans who strayed across the Kuwaiti border are safe and being well-treated.

37.   Two Americans who strayed across the Kuwaiti border are safe and being well-treated, Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh told a news conference Thursday.

38.   Washington says they crossed into Iraq unintentionally while trying to visit friends at a U.N. compound on the Kuwaiti border.

39.   When Iraqi troops began massing last fall near the Kuwaiti border, setting off alarms in Washington and elsewhere, the French were unruffled.

40.   When Iraqi troops began massing last fall near the Kuwaiti border, the French were unruffled and accused the Americans of overreacting.