61.   If this strike has a final settlement, those players could gain a delayed free agency.

62.   In all previous strikes, players gained service credit in the final settlements.

63.   In any event, negotiations on a final settlement were originally supposed to have begun last week.

64.   In the absence of trust, the Palestinians see no point in going to a final settlement.

65.   In the long run, it is hard to imagine that Yasser Arafat would accept the idea as a final settlement.

66.   In the wake the latest Israeli-Palestinian agreement there are several reasons to be just a tad optimistic about the prospects for a final settlement.

67.   Israel and the Palestinians are due to begin talks within weeks on a final settlement.

68.   Israel wants to restore full security cooperation with the Palestinian Authority and accelerate discussions of a final territorial settlement.

69.   It is to move directly to intensive negotiations on a final settlement.

70.   It would also signal the home stretch to a final settlement.