John Vinocur, the multilingual political and diplomatic analyst for The International Herald-Tribune, caught the nuances of European news media reactions.

Nevertheless, diplomatic analysts in Lebanon suggest that this is a good time to recognize that differences between Iran's and Syria's positions that could, perhaps, be played off against each other.

That has been the working assumption of diplomatic analysts tracking the Israeli-Syrian peace effort - that a complete withdrawal to the June 4, 1967, line is the condition for a deal.

He also agreed with diplomatic analysts who noted today that it was a good thing that Israel had withdrawn its troops from Lebanon before Mr. Assad died.

Some diplomatic analysts linked what they saw as Hu's brutal use of force to the suppression of activists and students at in Tiananmen Square, which took place a mere three months later.

But Chinese who follow their country's politics from outside the circle of power as well as Western diplomatic analysts say they believe that the hardliners presented no substantive alternatives to continuing change.

"Martial law would be the lesser of two evils in the eyes of many Albanians," a Western diplomatic analyst said.

Protests have already begun, but Indonesian and diplomatic analysts say the demonstrators by themselves are unlikely to pose a serious threat to the government.

Critical comments have come from military and diplomatic analysts in Sri Lanka, particularly in the Sri Lankan Army.

The African National Congress remains uncertain about the extent of its influence after being banned for 30 years, according to a diplomatic analyst.