United Nations forces interposed themselves between the two sides, creating an uneasy standoff that was interrupted sometimes by arguments between the women and the soldiers.

If Washington were still locked in an uneasy military standoff with the Soviet Union, there might be a strong case for national sacrifice.

Still, Rugal thought, watching his grandmother's coiled fury and his father's taut anger, it was sobering to think that only an uneasy standoff with this gul was keeping him safe on Cardassia.

Rugal thought better of explaining Dukat's part in his disappearance and the uneasy standoff between him and Kotan.

With Colonel Qaddafi busy making what will hopefully be his last stand in Tripoli, and an uneasy standoff continuing in Bahrain, this might be a good moment to sit back and reflect on the underlying realities of the Middle East.

In addition, the author deals directly and cogently with the problem of writing a family memoir, where fact and fiction, reality and lies, coexist in an uneasy, messy standoff: "I believe that fiction is formed truth," she writes.

On the deck of the galley, a dozen Illyrians held two-score armed soldiers at an uneasy standoff, their slighter numbers backed by those watching on the other four ships, weapons trained on the galley.

The fight over pharmaceuticals is symptomatic of the uneasy standoff between developing countries, which make up the bulk of the trade organization's membership, and the giant economies of the United States and the European Union.

The longer they are held captive, the greater the domestic political pressure will be, and governments will have to judge very soon how long they tolerate an uneasy standoff.

After an uneasy standoff, Macedonian forces began shelling the town.