The exhaustion of the North was becoming evident and the Paris talks gave some hope of a negotiated peace if not a victory.

Mr. Reilly was a prominent member of the Bush delegation to the Paris talks.

At the same time the Israelis, who were also a party to the Paris talks, secretly airlifted arms to Iran.

It also needs to be borne in mind that the expanded Paris talks, once they began, were about procedure, not substance.

Those devils up in Paris talk of a government by terror.

The release of all civilian detainees and prisoners of war was agreed at the Paris talks but a number of practical difficulties impeded the process.

With the Paris talks looming, one Administration said: "We emphasized to the French that the important thing is a successful outcome, not the date."

The Paris talks last July broke down over this point.

The Soviet Union sent the same signal to the United States when the 1968 Paris talks began.

The Albanian representatives in the Paris talks signed the agreement on Thursday.