31.   Critics have charged that it has become a huge patronage mill for Shas and other religious parties.

32.   During the past three weeks it has inevitably been the minority religious parties that have been clamoring most vociferously for nuclear tests.

33.   Especially outspoken are the religious parties flexing their new government muscles.

34.   Extreme religious parties are flexing their muscle with street protests.

35.   For the rest, he had a choice of Sharansky, the Third Way, and the more moderate of the religious parties.

36.   He is the political leader of Shas, a religious party made up largely of Jews from Morocco.

37.   If Pakistan sides with Washington, it could incur the wrath of militant Islamists, and Musharraf could suffer domestic backlash, especially from religious parties.

38.   I meet him at a protest, in the Khyber Bazaar, that was organized by a pro-Taliban religious party.

39.   If the religious parties fail to bring more people into the streets, Musharraf, a military man, should remain in control.

40.   In all, nine small parties gained seats in the parliament, with religious parties showing the strongest gains.