1.   And the relationship between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his negotiating partner, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa, seems less than warm.

2.   Another issue is whether, after the horrors of the past few weeks, Milosevic is still an acceptable negotiating partner for the allies.

3.   Barak and his negotiating partner, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa have met separately with Clinton.

4.   A third reason is that the administration has not decided whether to abandon Arafat as a negotiating partner.

5.   But Chinese negotiators might have been instructed to first measure the resolve of their negotiating partners in GATT before top Chinese leaders gave approval for major new concessions.

6.   But he added the now-standard administration formulation that makes it clear Bush believes Arafat has a long way to go to be a serious negotiating partner.

7.   But he has left his supporters and Israeli and American negotiating partners baffled by the question of who would take his place should he ever become ill or incapacitated.

8.   But if Arafat were not strong enough to control the violence, then he would have little credibility as a negotiating partner.

9.   But if Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, is willing to end the violence, he may find Sharon to be an unexpectedly pragmatic negotiating partner.

10.   But in the text, Yoffie did not reject Arafat as a negotiating partner for the Israelis.