81.   Sinn Fein has been meeting since December with British civil servants, but the arms question has stood in the way of advancing the talks to the ministerial level.

82.   Sinn Fein has been holding exploratory talks with British civil servants since December and only Wednesday, after long insistence, progressed to the ministerial level.

83.   Sinn Fein has been holding exploratory talks with British civil servants since December, but has been expressing growing impatience that the talks move to the ministerial level.

84.   The action plan fixes a schedule for short-term dates to hold negotiations at the expert and ministerial levels on the hemispheric trade zone.

85.   Syria, which has never held talks with Israel at ministerial level, has consistently boycotted international forums where the Jewish state would be.

86.   Syria, the main power-broker in Lebanon, also refuses to hold talks at ministerial level with Israel.

87.   The accord also provides for the establishment of a Russia-NATO council which will meet at least twice a year at ministerial level.

88.   That will be done at the ministerial level, which is to say, without the president of the Palestinian Authority.

89.   The coalition made an election pledge to upgrade South Pacific affairs to senior ministerial level.

90.   The conference -- the first at a ministerial level -- will be jointly chaired by Japan, the United States, the European Union and Saudi Arabia.