Gosh, I don't even know what month it is these days!" A more subtle version of travel dodging exploits issues surrounding the trip, rather than the trip itself.
The stakes surrounding this trip to Paris were high for everyone.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivities surrounding the trip.
Ms. Zhang declined to explain the extreme secrecy surrounding the trip, saying, "We think this is a normal visit".
"Hosting a papal visit in 2010 is very different to 1982," said the official, who has an in-depth knowledge of the negotiations surrounding the trip.
Michael Keister, the president of Atlantic, said that neither he nor anyone at his company could comment on the events surrounding the trip, on the advice of their lawyers.
The idea that Pacman and Peso are just as likely to be subject to arbitrary detention, arrest and mistreatment in the streets around their home as Pyongyang has become a theme in the promotion surrounding their trip.
But the exact timing and purpose of Mr. Ismail's mission was not divulged, and the mystery surrounding his trip added to a sense of tension and uncertainty in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, after two weeks of Western airstrikes intended to protect rebel-held territory and pressure the Qaddafi government.
In a sign of the nervousness surrounding the trip, a sergeant major abruptly told the Marines gathered to hear Mr. Panetta in a tent at Camp Leatherneck to get up, place their M-16 and M-4 automatic rifles and 9-millimeter pistols outside, and return unarmed.
The Israeli leader has turned down an invitation to meet Senate Democrats privately, saying this "could compound the misperception of partisanship" surrounding his trip.
