Still, the public relations machines that both have cranked up continued to trade blame.

Just last month, Mr. Fernandez and City Hall traded blame for a citywide decline in reading.

It was a cordial conversation, aides said, but the two have had little contact since an angry post-election meeting where they traded blame for Mr. Gore's defeat.

The government and the Tamil Tigers have traded blame for the killings.

A10 Indian and Kazak officials trade blame for an airline collision.

Mr. Ortega's rivals have also traded blame for dividing the opposition.

As they have for days, the two sides traded blame again this afternoon.

This week, officials were trading blame for the damage at the convention center, which had supposedly been built after careful attention to drainage needs.

Government and ethnic rebels traded blame for the massacre.

Although government and generating company officials trade blame for the delays, all agree that the state has moved more quickly since last fall, when California's plight began to draw national attention.