Western diplomats referred to the example of neighbouring Croatia, where a stream of failed ceasefires were used by militias to consolidate gains and prepare for new offences.

The diplomat was referring to the Arab Governments' likely reluctance to be drawn into the debate over the plight of the non-Arab Kurds.

The diplomat was referring to the killing last month of Kang Kyung Dae, the student who was clubbed to death by the police.

During his time as president, diplomats sometimes referred to Liberia as "Charles Taylor Inc."

Western diplomats initially referred to the proposed resolution as a basis for negotiations.

Spanning this North-South gulf, as diplomats refer to it, has been the main difficulty but hardly the only one.

The Western diplomat referred to them as "a one-two" and called today's attack "very well planned."

The Venetian diplomats even referred to him as "Ibrahim the Magnificent", a play on Suleiman's usual sobriquet.

The architectural blend of menace and vulnerability prompts some diplomats to refer to their workplaces as fortresses.

Many Kuwaiti officials and Western diplomats now refer to those who remain missing as hostages, rather than prisoners of war.