For any paragraph, the <para> and
</para> tags must open and close that
particular paragraph.
Do not use para tags around anything other than a simple paragraph. Doing so will create additional white space within the text itself.
Do not use <para> tags around the
following (or, to put this another way, do not embed the
following within <para> tags):
<screen>
<itemizedlist>
<orderedlist>
<variablelist>
<table>