My goal, so far as possible, is to avert a street war and prevent any mob faction from seizing total control.

"The street war that would ensue would split the guild in half."

Come to think of it, Mayor Giuliani made his first public splash by declaring a street war against squeegee men.

For them, the gangs that have little street wars are a problem.

"Word on the street is that a street war is about to escalate," the detective added.

In the midst of a raging street war, he kills his best friend.

By March 2006 this had escalated to a decisive street war.

Stompie Moeketsi enlisted in the street war against apartheid when he was 10 years old.

His attitude reflects a middle ground in the street wars over graffiti: neither condemning nor accepting all writing on the wall.

Building contractors who long refused to set foot in the township have begun restoring and painting homes blasted by the street wars.