31.   A decision is expected after closed door talks on Thursday among the five leading Security Council members.

32.   Adding to the uncertainty was the walkout of the leading Pashtun member of the Northern Alliance delegation, Haji Abdul Qadir.

33.   All five leading Security Council members say, at least for the record, that the requirement to reintroduce inspectors must remain in place.

34.   But a leading Democratic member of the committee, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, said he thought that the Republican tone was about right.

35.   But Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, a leading Hamas member in Gaza, said the group now is too popular to compromise on substantive issues.

36.   But Bryant, who is the leading Democratic member of the committee, fought against the program five years ago and intends to lead the charge once again.

37.   But leading members of his Welfare Party have said they will not, and may quit the party if he presses ahead.

38.   But some leading members get such a perk.

39.   But so far the criticism has not extended to leading members of Congress, in part because the confrontation ended well and in part because Congress is in recess.

40.   But that concern seems misplaced in the case of Gopac, a committee run by a leading Republican member of Congress and openly in the business of electioneering.