51.   Bossi and Fini are both key allies of Premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose conservative coalition ran on a platform that included promises to crack down on illegal immigration.

52.   But Howard admitted his conservative coalition was in for a tough fight to protect its slim six-seat majority in Parliament.

53.   But the issue has bitterly divided both the governing conservative coalition and the leftist opposition.

54.   But the leader of the conservative Catalan nationalist coalition Convergence and Union expressed doubts about the ongoing negotiations.

55.   But, he added, it is up to the conservative coalition to decide.

56.   Chirac, meanwhile, has been struggling to hold his conservative coalition together after the left seized power last June when the president called early legislative elections.

57.   Declaring the party opposed to totalitarianism, he brought it into the conservative coalition government with impressive gains at the polls after four decades of isolation.

58.   Dini replaced media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, whose conservative coalition had split apart.

59.   French President Jacques Chirac was forced to defend his prime minister Friday in the face of increasing attacks from their own conservative coalition.

60.   He said that after an election date is set, his conservative coalition will decide whether he or someone else will lead the bloc.