Mr. Zhu, who is 61 years old, is a longtime diplomat not associated with any particular set of policies.

"This is the labor of an exploited class," said a longtime Western diplomat here.

"The Iranians are proving more sophisticated than the Iraqis may have expected," a longtime diplomat in the region said.

She was a brilliant foreign affairs strategist, a longtime diplomat who could negotiate with the best, and win.

The Prime Minister is a longtime diplomat and official in Mobutu administrations.

The longtime diplomat Richard Holbrooke puts the difference this way: "Though the terms overlap, interim has more heft.

Oskar Fischer, the longtime diplomat who has been Foreign Minister since 1975, kept his post.

There is no renewal," a longtime diplomat, Tahseen Basheer, said, "and a lot of boredom.

"Thi is Rafsanjani's perestroika," a longtime diplomat here said.

"Nobody pays taxes," a longtime diplomat here said.