Even ardent union organizers may yield to the temptation to spy on other unions during strikes, based perhaps upon misplaced sectarian loyalties or ideological differences.

Yet the speeches all revealed the deep ethnic or sectarian loyalties of their speakers.

Trying to reform the police forces could take years, because sectarian loyalties have become entrenched, and police officers are rooted in their communities, senior military officials acknowledge.

Many police units stood aside, either out of confusion or sectarian loyalties, according to Iraqi witnesses.

The units believed to be most plagued by militia recruitment and sectarian loyalties are the police paramilitary forces, which have a total of 17,500 members, the American military says.

Colonel Davis said his advisers had no qualms about removing Iraqi commanders if it became evident they have sectarian loyalties.

While some American officials and Sunni leaders say that increased tension leads to reduced Iranian influence, others say that sectarian loyalties are difficult to control.

The cohesiveness of the army - whose units mostly reflect sectarian loyalties - has yet to be tested by the newest crisis.

The system of law enforcement in Nigeria is beset by a lack of resources, sectarian loyalties, and corruption.

Ethnic, tribal, linguistic and sectarian loyalty is the central order of things in a society that remains rural and feudal in nature.