1.   Although the entire congressional liaison staff stayed on duty to try to broker an end to the shutdown, White House political director Doug Sosnik was deemed nonessential.

2.   Foreign Ministers Yevgeny Primakov of Russia and Herve de Charette of France were also in the region seeking to broker an end to the fighting.

3.   Gekas, R-Harrisburg, met with Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Jay Bell Wednesday and offered to broker an end to the baseball strike.

4.   Lebed then successfully brokered an end to the unpopular war in Chechnya.

5.   On Sunday, Maj. Bryan Hilferty, a American spokesman, said soldiers stationed at Gardez have tried to broker an end to the fighting.

6.   Pogrund said Mandela counts his role in brokering an end to U.N. sanctions against Libya as one of his signal international achievements.

7.   Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, who helped broker an end to the Bosnian war, negotiated terms of the withdrawal in a flurry of phone calls.

8.   Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, who brokered an end to the Bosnian war, negotiated terms of the withdrawal in a flurry of phone calls.

9.   But each held talks separately with regional heads of state helping to broker an end to the conflict.

10.   Christopher was due in the Middle East on Saturday for an open-ended stay to broker an end to the fighting.