It was "not right" to say that pressure should only be brought on the government of President Bashar al-Assad and not the opposition to end the conflict, Mr Lavrov said.

BBC: Syria unrest: Second day of fierce Damascus clashes

Dominic Grieve, the shadow attorney-general, in turn accused the government of fomenting conflict with the opposition in order to sound tough.

ECONOMIST: Politics

Dean -- who until his third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses last week had led in New Hampshire polls -- highlighted Kerry's support of the Iraq war but his opposition to the first conflict, launched in 1991 after Iraq invaded Kuwait.

CNN: Democrats fire shots in final New Hampshire push

Mrs Kumaratunga, speaking a day after publicly accusing Tamil Tiger rebels of trying to assassinate her, made clear that she has no intention of forming a coalition government with her opposition rivals in the search for a solution to Sri Lanka's long-running conflict.

BBC: Sri Lankan leader accuses opposition

Most believe that, despite opposition from some lawyers, the barriers will soon fall, and they agree with the accountants that conflict-of-interest concerns can be resolved.

ECONOMIST: The battle of the Atlantic