They have now been reprieved, and appear likely to be freed under a complicated face-saving deal.
First, whether Mr Hussein will grab the small face-saving opportunity that is being offered him.
Some Russian observers candidly admit the new security deal with NATO is a face-saving agreement for Russia.
The attorney-general's ruling that there was no evidence of wrongdoing merely provided face-saving cover for his inevitable exit.
Now, all the press must put the posturing and face-saving behind it, accept the new system and move on.
But it is a pity that fear of libel suits - or was it a last sliver of face-saving?
So the government needed a face-saving way out of the latest fine mess it had gotten the project into.
After the Spanish and British foreign ministers met this week, a face-saving compromise was said still to be possible.
ECONOMIST: The two countries want a deal. The people of the colony do not
Then I would go to the next stage and attempt to find a nonviolent, face-saving way out of the problem.
And to this end, the president indicated Beijing should take a flexible line in finding a face-saving formula for both sides.
Mr Wolfensohn first yelled at his staff for landing him in this mess, and is now scrabbling for a face-saving compromise.
Spitzer may also be looking to the evidence as a face-saving measure.
In theory, therefore, there is plenty of time (the State Department investigation has no deadline) in which to find a face-saving fudge.
In exchange for the face-saving loan, he relinquished control of his empire.
The British press has offered several face-saving explanations for these serial rudenesses.
The plan to scrap the Philippines' American-style presidential system, and replace it with a parliamentary one, could provide Mrs Arroyo with a face-saving exit.
Only if Israel clobbers Hizbullah hard enough might Mr Nasrallah be in the market for some face-saving way to give the plan his blessing.
Some believe Mr Berezovsky's power is now so absolute that any sign of an attack on it is just face-saving camouflage for his puppet-president.
So, it seems that South Koreans will bite the bullet and, after a healthy portion of the face-saving rhetoric, return to the business of usual.
Dick Parsons is constantly mentioned as a GOP candidate for NYC mayor when Bloomberg is term-limited in 2009, providing Parsons with a face-saving exit strategy.
And everyone is waiting for the Iraq Study Group to come up with a face-saving way for Congress and the White House to come together.
The Japanese emphasis on face-saving then meant the bank could not reverse the policy once it became clear that a serious error had been made.
It is possible that skilled diplomacy may come up with some face-saving way for the republicans to make enough of a gesture to restart the political process.
Isolated diplomatically, Pakistan now faces a choice between continuing its offensive in Kashmir at the risk of provoking a catastrophic war or finding a face-saving way out.
Ukraine faces three political options: a fresh parliamentary election, a face-saving truce between Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko or a new coalition between Ms Tymoshenko and Mr Yanukovich.
He should use the occasion to negotiate a face-saving retreat.
Administration officials had said they hoped the release of the journalists would give North Korea a face-saving opportunity to return to talks aimed at ending its nuclear program.
CNN: N. Korea feels 'owed' direct talks with U.S., Richardson says
By rendering digital photos fleeting rather than archival, Snapchat offers a face-saving alternative to our constantly tracked, unerasable lives on the Internet and a chance to reintroduce a modicum of privacy.
Investors had better hope that Snow's focus on internal structural reforms is a face-saving way for the U.S. to back away from trying to force Beijing to undermine its currency.
The premise of the October deal was that, offered a face-saving way to come clean and find a better relationship with the West, Iran would quietly drop any weapons ambitions.
ECONOMIST: The Europeans' soft approach to Iran seems to have failed
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