11.   Scattered clashes continue in the mountainous republic between Chechen rebels and the federal troops who nominally control all but a few areas.

12.   That was a theme repeated Thursday when he met with Azerbaijani leaders, including President Geidar Aliev, who asserted his mountainous Caucasian republic is part of Europe.

13.   The Tajik government began rationing electricity Wednesday, dooming the mountainous former Soviet republic to a long cold winter.

14.   The tiny mountainous republics around Chechnya have been quiet but crucial bystanders in the war.

15.   In Moscow, there were indications that Russia had run out of patience with the mountainous republic.

16.   Despite massive efforts, the Russian army has still failed to gain full control of the mountainous republic.

17.   Djukanovic, once embraced by Western leaders as a counterweight to the autocratic Milosevic, gradually distanced the tiny mountainous republic on the Adriatic coast from Belgrade.

18.   The mountainous former Soviet republic has emerged as a strategic partner of the United States in its war on Islamic extremists in nearby Afghanistan.

19.   The reformist president, once embraced by western leaders as a counterweight to the autocratic Milosevic, gradually distanced the tiny mountainous republic on the Adriatic coast from Belgrade.

20.   The situation in the mountainous republic was described at midday as calm, though police patrols were everywhere, ordering drivers to stop for identity controls.