21.   Kadirgamar said the government assured him it would open a shelter for runaway maids in June.

22.   Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sadaaki Numata said Tuesday the Russian government has assured Tokyo the summit will take place as planned.

23.   Meanwhile, interim Interior Minister Jean-Jack Queyranne warned rioting youths the government will assure that order is restored in the troubled neighborhoods.

24.   Negotiators said Monday that the Philippine government has assured the United States it would not free the men.

25.   On Monday, the British Foreign Office said that the Yemeni government assured it that it will not use force to release the hostages.

26.   President Pervez Musharraf is lobbying hard for an internationally monitored interim government to assure a stable transition that lessens the chance of renewed infighting.

27.   Rao told a news conference Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata government had assured him and the Supreme Court that it would not demolish the mosque.

28.   Sources close to Khun Sa have said the Rangoon government has assured the drug lord he will not be extradited to the United States despite diplomatic or economic pressure.

29.   The Cuban government has assured that they will be given safe passage home, she said.

30.   The government assured citizens of Asian origin Friday that their businesses and properties would not be seized by ruling party militants.