1.   Among opponents, the largest faction opposes any kind of foreign aid.

2.   A gentle, low-key figure, he has often played the role of a mediator and now heads the largest faction in the governing Liberal Democratic Party.

3.   A senior State Department official acknowledged on Thursday that it might be hard to persuade the two largest Kurdish factions to settle their differences after years of fighting.

4.   After December elections, Putin now controls the largest Duma faction.

5.   Free Democrats, until now the largest party, are likely to become the second largest parliamentary faction.

6.   He controls the largest faction in the party and has used his skills as a conciliator to win the support of the next two largest factions.

7.   He used his advantage as the leader of the largest faction to attract other faction leaders, who then pressured their members to toe the line.

8.   Liberals still represent the largest faction in the Assembly Democratic caucus.

9.   Obuchi, as head of the largest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was powerful.

10.   Obuchi heads the largest faction in the LDP and, based on party politics, is the leading candidate for the job.