1.   Governments have opted to maintain long-term objectives rather than sacrifice them for short-term gains.

2.   Pasopiani refused to confirm that any of the other names that can be found in the e-mail archive were his, opting to maintain his anonymity.

3.   Government offices would likely opt to maintain a presence on the web in addition to being part of the secure system.

4.   Reluctant to do that, they have opted to maintain their distance from Arafat.

5.   However, unlike the United States and Britain, France has opted to maintain dialogue with Iraq.

6.   IBM, which also holds a minor stake, did not opt to maintain its holding when the government announced the capital injection last October.

7.   The deadline was imposed by the administrators, who opted to maintain a skeleton operation in order to sell Ansett as a viable concern.