1.  Bliley, a Virginia Republican from a major tobacco-producing region and a leading congressional defender of the industry, won praise from some anti-smoking advocates.

2.  Both the Arab League and South African President Nelson Mandela, a leading international defender of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, suggested that Libya would accept the plan.

3.  Along with Bishop, Republicans Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Terry Everett of Alabama are among the leading defenders of the program.

4.  Even Eddie Einhorn, minority owner of the White Sox and leading defender of the TV schedule, confessed that he was frustrated.

5.  Stanley Sessions, a biology professor at Hartwick College in New York, has emerged as the leading defender of the theory that the deformities are a natural event.

6.  The mufti at the Binori Town Mosque, a venerable institution in the heart of the city, was a leading defender of the Taliban.

7.  Through groups like the Committee for Economic Development, that rebellion has spread despite heavy-handed warnings from Sen. Mitch McConnell, a leading defender of soft money.

8.  Umana was a leading defender of arrested guerrillas and other leftist activists he called political prisoners.