Mr. Cuomo stopped short of an outright endorsement.

It will not make outright endorsements.

Churchmen, whom one would expect to be most militant about the matter, responded with anything from sceptical but unsurprised indifference to outright endorsement.

The official United States position has not moved to an outright endorsement of Kosovo as an independent nation, but it has not ruled that out.

But the Bush Administration avoided an outright endorsement.

Boycott support in the region's government-run newspapers has been almost universal, although outright endorsements by senior officials have been rare, given that it could hurt foreign investment.

Stern had lost the outright endorsement of King and Barkley as she was not seen as a team-player.

Asked to comment, Amundsen avoided an outright endorsement of either explorer, but surmised that "probably something will be left to be done".

Union officials said that although they had not seen the text of the agreement, there was the prospect of an outright endorsement.

Mr. Bloomberg has made speeches at several black and Latino churches in recent weeks, picking up the outright endorsement or tacit support of influential religious leaders.