1.   Barnes was an unknown quantity, without any clear prejudice on the nuclear issue.

2.   Opinion on the nuclear issue is divided and other arguments are involved too, for example economic considerations.

3.   US President George Bush had enjoyed a personal rapport with Gorbachev and was believed to prefer dealing with one person, especially on nuclear issues.

4.   Calling for the renunciation of the use of force, he also offered to discuss nuclear issues on the Korean peninsula as a whole.

5.   The compensation claims and the nuclear issue had deadlocked the normalization talks between Japan and North Korea.

6.   It is believed that the campaign was abandoned after direct intervention from ministers, possibly to prevent an embarrassing resurrection of nuclear issues just prior to a general election.

7.   Beijing and Washington have been at odds over the nuclear issue for some time.

8.   But his administration has also put its prestige on the line with the high-profile negotiations over nuclear issues with the United States.

9.   But officials say that other than long-term monitoring, there is little left for Iraq to do on the nuclear issue beyond passing a law.

10.   But the NTI faces a substantial challenge in even trying to get India and Pakistan to discuss the nuclear issue.