31.   The attack came as Mahmood Mestiri, the United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, began a fresh effort to broker a cease-fire in and around the beseiged city.

32.   The attack came as Mahmood Mestiri, the United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, launched a fresh effort to broker a cease-fire in and around the beseiged city.

33.   The attack came as Serbia, the main republic of Yugoslavia, faces a possibility of a NATO intervention in the southern Kosovo province.

34.   The attack came as the United Nations struggled to prevent the two-day offensive southeast of Zagreb from merging with the fighting in neighboring Bosnia.

35.   The attack came only a day before a nationwide cease-fire, negotiated by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, was to go into effect.

36.   The attacks came as fighting raged in northern Sri Lanka where the guerrillas are battling an offensive by thousands of soldiers to capture Jaffna city.

37.   The attack came after a string of bomb blasts over the last few days have rattled the North African capital and its surrounding areas.

38.   The attack came as children in Chechnya were gearing up for the first day of school.

39.   The attack came as comments were published by Pope John Paul II expressing his deep sadness at the resumption of hostilities in Sri lanka.

40.   The attack came as Kashmiris prepared for village elections on Monday along the cease-fire line that divides the disputed Himalayan region between India and Pakistan.