1.   Authorities, however, say they cannot control the wards, where riots and hostage takings are common.

2.   Both jobs are extremely dangerous because they isolate soldiers and observers, making them vulnerable to attack and hostage takings.

3.   Defence Minister David Collenette has rejected a recall, saying Ottawa still supports NATO air strikes, which prompted the hostage takings.

4.   In the wake of the hostage takings, both Britain and France have edged toward giving the United Nations troops more muscle.

5.   In separate hostage takings last year, the group beheaded two teachers and gouged the eyes of a Catholic priest who was tortured to death.

6.   The number of abductions and hostage takings has risen recently in Argentina, especially in the capital, Buenos Aires.

7.   Though politics and economics often blur in hostage takings by many groups, sometimes the motive appears purely political.

8.   Turkish prisons are overcrowded, guards are poorly paid and riots and hostage takings are common.

9.   Yevgeny Savostyanov, of the presidential staff, accused Chechen government officials of involvement in the hostage takings.

10.   Hostage takings in the Niger Delta region occur relatively frequently and rarely lead to any violence.