英闻天下——226 Syrian Opposition Willing to Talk with Assad

 　　Syria's top opposition¹ leader says he's willing to sit down for talks with President Bashar Assad's government, but the statement provoked an outcry from some opposition groups.

 

　　Moaz al-Khatib, President of the National Coalition² for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, was speaking at the Munich Security Conference.

 

　　"The Syrian opposition is willing to sit down for talks with President Bashar Assad's regime to ease the pain of the Syrian people. We are ready to sit at the negotiation³ table with this regime. But the regime should make its own gesture by releasing 160,000 detainees."

 

　　The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces is an umbrella group designed to represent most of the Syrian opposition groups.

 

　　Al-Khatib was chosen in November to head the coalition.

 

　　His comments marked a clear departure from the long-standing opposition line, which has been categorical refusal to talk to the government.

 

　　His statement has provoked an outcry, and al-Khatib back-peddled, saying he was just expressing his own opinion.

 

　　The US, its Western allies and most Syrian opposition groups insist Assad must step down first, a position that Russia has strongly opposed.

 

　　Despite the controversy⁴, analysts⁵ say Al-Khatib's comments marked the first opening for the possibility of dialogue to end a nearly two-year-long conflict that the UN says has killed more than 60,000 people.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。