A diplomat monitoring the case at the State Department said that officials there were "happily out of the picture."

But diplomats monitoring the process and opposition leaders said the process is so challenging technically that it could end any chance of a referendum.

A Western diplomat monitoring the standoff said today: "I think any threat is serious, but we've seen deadlines set before and pass.

"This case has been investigated quite thoroughly, which almost never happens in other human rights abuses here," said an American diplomat monitoring the case.

"Each side is trying to see what the other will do next," a Western diplomat monitoring the crisis said hours before the release.

The release was not necessarily a sign that the standoff would be resolved any time soon, according to a Western diplomat monitoring the hostage crisis.

That court would have to review about 10,000 pages of testimony and mounds of forensic evidence, diplomats monitoring the case said.

But Western diplomats monitoring the meetings were skeptical and indicated that they saw the move more as a last-minute effort at damage control.

European diplomats and United Nations officials monitoring the peace process here had said a "no" vote would set back the political momentum for change.

"That takes us to the year 2001," said a Western diplomat monitoring the talks, which are to continue until Wednesday.