31.   His iron grip started to slip when he sought office again last year, despite a constitutional prohibition against a third consecutive five-year term.

32.   His iron grip within the party is often blamed for its decreasing support.

33.   However, other observers believe the central bank will retain an iron grip on the peso.

34.   Indonesia rules East Timor through the iron grip of its military.

35.   Meanwhile, North Korea prefers an iron grip on all facets of life and has been an international hermit for five decades.

36.   Resentful and confused, they live under the iron grip of a dictatorship still capable of suppressing anything short of a nationwide uprising.

37.   The elder Assad had ruled Syria with an iron grip and had designated Bashar as his successor.

38.   The victory could mean that Milosevic would lose his iron grip on the media.

39.   They are still firmly in power and keep an iron grip on television, radio and most print media.

40.   Without such a move, airlines would end up with an iron grip on the best slots at the best airports on both sides of the Atlantic.