Aware of this tension, many European diplomats have sought to play down their differences with Washington - while pursuing a starkly contrasting policy.

For now, leaders of the fledgling tricaucus coalition are playing down their differences in hopes of moving forward with their agenda.

But the two men did what they came together to do, which was to publicly play down their differences and present a united front on Iran.

Rice, who said he would not approach Jackson about the issue, tried to play down their differences.

Later, the two met and agreed to play down their differences in the interests of presenting unified support for Mr. Dukakis.

Mr. de Montebello, noting that "identical twins and married couples have moments of disagreement, too," also played down their differences.

Despite its origin as a maker of motorcycles, Honda does not embrace rebellion, and its executives play down their differences with competitors.

Mussina, a 19-game winner each of the past two seasons, played down his differences with Dobson, a solid pitching coach in previous stops.

He has sought to play down his differences with the governor, comparing them to the difficulties that married couples sometimes face.

After today's meeting, both factions of the party were eager to play down their differences.