1.   Canadian markets were rocked by the possibility that Quebec separatists would win a referendum.

2.   Had the separatists won the referendum, the Quebec government was expected to enter into negotiations with the rest of Canada for an orderly separation.

3.   Had the separatists won by an equally narrow margin they surely would have expected their opponents to accept the result as final.

4.   That was reinforced by the recent elections in which separatists won in each community.

5.   The separatists won support among many Kashmiris, their cause aided by the might of the Indian security forces.

6.   Who is going to buy a new bedroom suite if the separatists win.

7.   Perhaps the most important question is what would happen if the separatists win, but by a slim margin.

8.   Abkhazian separatists won a two-year war that forced hundreds of thousands of ethnic Georgians to flee the Black Sea province.

9.   Abkhazian separatists won a two-year war that forced hundreds of thousands of ethnic Georgians to flee.

10.   And an impending referendum on secession by Quebec will leave scars whether the separatists win or lose.