21.   Pakistani leaders demanded Tuesday that the United States and other world powers act decisively to isolate India after its five nuclear tests this week.

22.   Pakistani leaders decided national pride and security left them no alternative.

23.   Pakistani leaders have not forgotten that when Egypt made peace with Israel, then-President Anwar Sadat was assassinated and Cairo endured a series of terror attacks.

24.   Sharif, the Pakistani leader, has been torn between a desire to settle the Kashmir issue and a fear that he will be accused of bowing to India.

25.   Sharif withdrew from the confrontation in July at the urging of President Clinton, which raised tensions between the Pakistani leader and his army to a breaking point.

26.   Still, fears of nuclear confrontation with India might prompt Pakistani leaders to rethink their demands, he argued.

27.   Soon afterward, the Pakistani leader swung his support behind the United States and away from the Taliban rulers that Pakistan had supported in Afghanistan.

28.   The issue is a delicate one for Pakistani leaders, who risk provoking the fiercely independent, and widely pro-Taliban, tribes along the Afghan border.

29.   The Pakistani leader missed an opportunity to send a positive message on his national day on Thursday when he made a major speech.

30.   The presidency has traditionally carried a five-year term, and the Pakistani leader has already hinted that he intends to retain overall authority beyond next year.