1.   Although Yeltsin has not issued such a flatly optimistic statement before, others often have.

2.   And sometimes he has waded into trouble by sharply changing the tone, if not the substance, of his statements before different audiences.

3.   Arafat made no statement before boarding his plane Tuesday.

4.   At other moments in the questioning, Ms. Lewinsky pointed the House prosecutor back to her statements before the grand jury, officials said.

5.   Both sides made opening statements before the executives left, with one of them, Disney President Robert Iger, saying he was committed to reaching a deal.

6.   But Dickerson gave his statements before being read his Miranda rights.

7.   But Royster, in a statement before the sentencing, was bluntly unapologetic, instead bemoaning his own fate.

8.   But officials, eager to demonstrate their zeal to free Pearl, have made similar statements before.

9.   Clinton prepared to return to the White House to make a statement before departing for a gathering of the leaders of the seven major industrial nations in Japan.

10.   Crocker Snyder seemed to echo this in her statement before imposing the sentence.