"People feel more liberties with him," said one close Presidential aide.

The mayor's close aides learned they had to live by his whims.

His mind, said one close aide, seemed to have been made up weeks ago.

The hall was reserved for personal use by the imperial family and close aides.

"I'm much more worried about him than her," a former close aide to the governor said.

Nearly all those questioned so far have been his close aides.

He will tend to operate with the help of only a few close aides, they say.

"Nobody knows what is going to come from the cast of characters out there," said one close aide.

Representative Brennan hadn't come, but he had sent a close aide.

We haven't met the President's body man, his close aide.