1.   At the same time, police stepped up activities outside the hostage compound, suggesting that the standoff could still end in violent confrontation.

2.   At the same time, the police stepped up activities outside the compound, suggesting that the standoff could still end in violent confrontation.

3.   Before the standoff ended, frustrated officers said they were receiving muddled demands and messages from inside the building.

4.   During the last Chechen conflict, however, such standoffs almost always ended with the Russians flattening the town while the rebels got away.

5.   Israel has said the standoff must end before it agrees to pull its troops out of Bethlehem.

6.   That standoff ended peacefully after Cuban leader Fidel Castro mediated.

7.   The standoff ended peacefully, but the tension remained.

8.   The six grandchildren then holed up in the basement and a four-day standoff ended only when Winrod persuaded them to leave.

9.   The standoff ended when police Chief Donny Tidmore, with television cameras running, used his car bullhorn to tell the activists they were trespassing and were under arrest.

10.   The standoff ended when the Mexican government requested that an unarmed Cuban special forces unit enter the embassy and remove the asylum-seekers.