1.   In other words, just another Balkan strongman who, in his case, served Western interests during the Bosnian war and can now be counted as expendable.

2.   Of course, the star has adorned taxis and trucks as well as the contemporary conveyances of popes, kings, playboys and Balkan strongmen.

3.   The Balkan strongman, who is conducting his own defense, has threatened to call witnesses including President Clinton.

4.   They predict the imminent end of the rule of the Balkan strongmen.

5.   His police force, renowned for its loyalty and brutality in putting down previous attempts to unseat the Balkan strongman, reacted with uncharacteristic restraint.

6.   Continued calm in eastern Slavonia is heavily dependent on the goodwill of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, and Holbrooke was keen to pay tribute to the Balkan strongman.

7.   The reported success for Milosevic comes one year before the Balkan strongman must stand down as Serbian president according to the constitution.

8.   They are however short of the two-thirds majority which would allow the Balkan strongman to rewrite the constitution.