American ties with Mr. Kuchma have been fraying steadily for a year and a half as his presidency has been marked by corruption scandals and growing authoritarianism.

Quite understandably, Mr. Jonguitud does not welcome such speculation and continues to maintain publicly that his ties to the Government and PRI have not frayed.

But now, the seemingly unbreakable ties between the two men are fraying in an ugly rift over control of the empire and succession.

Their ties had frayed to the point of dysfunction; their relations with Mr. Stevens, by all accounts, have been shredded.

But in the past two years, the ties that bound have frayed as the country's fortunes have faded.

The aggressive effort comes as labor's leadership has hardened its opposition to liberalized trade, and its ties with the Clinton administration have frayed.

Mr. Crawford disputed reports in trade publications that Merkley Newman's ties to I.B.M. executives had been fraying even before the decision to hire Ogilvy.

After World War II the ties with Britain frayed, no doubt inevitably because of distance and the end of empire.

But when the ties frayed, I was forgotten and had a hard life," said Bae in The Korea Times.

Now, rebels fight other rebels, the ties between some janjaweed fighters and the government have frayed, and the African Union troops charged with quelling the conflict find themselves targets as well.