Mr. Arafat made no comment before departing the United States.
It has become almost obligatory among those attending memorial services to comment that the departed one seems somehow so present, as if he or she were there looking on, enjoying, even participating.
She did not respond to messages seeking comment, and the other departed executives declined to comment.
Mr. Piller said in a faxed statement that Roche did not generally comment on rumors, but departed from its normal practice today "to avoid the spread of further speculation generated by the detailed comments of unknown sources".
He later muttered, "Unbelievable," and then departed without comment as his mother followed him, sobbing.
(The planner David Kemp, asked for comment, denied that he departed the Golden Lion project over any such disagreements about the second bid's authenticity).
So it must have surprised many people when Nasser Hejazi's public comments began to depart from his customary discussion of sporting triumphs and disappointments, and turned instead to politics.
That view differs from comments by the departing governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn A. King, who said last week that there was "a welcome change in the economic outlook" and that a recovery was "in sight".
Less positively, the recent comments of the departing CEO on the longer term prospects for China were unsettling, whilst of course the change at the helm will provide some caution in regards to continuity.
After six years in his post at Strasbourg, the Swedish official used his departing comments to plead for greater freedom of expression and to question blanket imposition of traditional media restraints on the internet.
