1.   Although he is a senior appointee and confidante of the president, Cutler sought to portray his findings as those of a thoroughly detached investigator.

2.   The announcement will be made officially after the routine and time-consuming process of formally vetting senior appointees is completed.

3.   Until just a few days ago, the secretary and his deputy, Paul D. Wolfowitz, were the only senior political appointees in place at the Pentagon.

4.   On his first day in office, the new president signed an executive order barring senior appointees from certain lobbying positions after they leave government.

5.   The cleric, Mufti Ikrema Sabri, is a senior appointee of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.