11.   The Israeli Cabinet officials who approved the closing last month debated their next steps at a late-night meeting as American diplomats tried to mediate the crisis.

12.   The Russian threat to stay on in Estonia until its demands were met was particularly unnerving to Washington because American diplomats had been trying to help mediate.

13.   When South Korean diplomats tried to prevent the Chinese police from placing the man in detention, they were pushed and hit, witnesses said.

14.   With President Clinton planning to visit India this spring, U.S. diplomats are trying to get India and Pakistan back to the negotiating table.

15.   President Fidel Ramos said Wednesday that Philippine diplomats are trying to arrange a meeting between him and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but prospects are unclear.

16.   A White House official said U.S. diplomats were trying to mediate for a resolution.

17.   Akashi acknowledged that diplomats were trying to contain, rather than totally halt the fighting.

18.   American diplomats tried their best Tuesday to persuade ethnic Albanian representatives to meet their Serb counterparts for talks on the future of the separatist Kosovo province.

19.   American diplomats tried their best Tuesday to persuade ethnic Albanian officials to meet their Serb counterparts for talks on the future of the separatist Kosovo province.

20.   American diplomats tried to negotiate the purchase of parts of Mexico, Cuba and Hawaii.