Two senior U.S. diplomats are due to arrive in Damascus Saturday in a visit upgrading the level of U.S.-Syrian contacts.
美国星期五表示，不打算按照英国的做法，与黎巴嫩激进组织真主党展开政治对话。与此同时，两名美国高级外交官星期六将抵达大马士革访问，以期提升美国和叙利亚之间的关系。
Officials here said the Obama administration has no intention of matching the British opening to Hezbollah, which has long been listed by the United States as a terrorist organization.
美国官员说，奥巴马政府不打算像英国政府那样，也与真主党接触，美国一向把真主党列为恐怖组织。
However the United States is not being publicly critical of the British move, and officials said they will be interested in the results, if any, of the British contacts.
不过，美国也没有公开批评英国的举措。有关官员说，如果英国的这种接触能产生任何结果，他们会对其结果感兴趣。
The British government said Thursday it had authorized what were termed carefully selected contacts with Hezbollah's political wing, which is represented in the Lebanese parliament, ending a four-year freeze on contacts with the militant Shiite group.
英国政府星期四表示，已经授权与真主党政治部门进行所谓谨慎的有选择性的接触，从而结束四年来与这个激进的什叶派组织不相往来的局面。真主党的政治部门在黎巴嫩议会占有议席。
The move comes as the Obama administration itself is easing policy toward contacts with regional adversaries, with a U.S. delegation visiting Syria on Saturday and an assertion by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday that Iran should be invited to an international conference on Afghanistan later this month.
英国采取上述措施的同时，奥巴马政府本身也准备放松政策，与一些区域性的敌对组织接触。美国一个代表团星期六将访问叙利亚；美国国务卿希拉里.克林顿还宣称，伊朗应该被邀请参加这个月晚些时候举行的有关阿富汗问题的国际会议。
At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Gordon Duguid had a mild response to the British move. He said the United States will watch how the Hezbollah dialogue proceeds but that the U.S. position towards the group - and its history of terrorist attacks against Americans - has not changed.
美国国务院发言人杜吉德在一次新闻发布会上对英国的举措反应平和。他说，美国将关注与真主党对话的进展如何，但是美国对该组织的立场不会改变，该组织对美国人发动恐怖袭击的历史也不会改变。
"Our position on Hezbollah is not going to change, until we see changes on the part of Hezbollah. This is the organization, as you will remember, that had killed more Americans than any other terrorist group before 9-11. Our stated position on Hezbollah has been consistent. Other nations will have, from time to time, positions that differ with those of the United States. We will watch in this case and see how this policy from the U.K. proceeds," he said.
他说：“我们在真主党问题上的立场不会改变，除非我们看到真主党方面有所改变。你们大家都应该记得，911恐怖袭击之前，这个组织比其他任何组织杀害的美国人都要多。在真主党问题上，我们的立场一如既往。其他国家的立场有时会与美国不同，我们会关注这一事件，看看英国的政策是如何进展的。”
Duguid said British officials advised the United States in advance of the diplomatic move, apparently during the Washington visit earlier this week of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
杜吉德说，在英国首相布朗这个星期早些时候访问华盛顿时，英国官员在采取上述外交动作之前先与美国进行了沟通。
The United States maintains relations with the Lebanese government of President Michel Suleiman but does not interact with ministries in the unity cabinet that are controlled by Hezbollah.
美国与总统苏莱曼领导的黎巴嫩政府保持关系，但是与真主党控制的团结政府的内阁部门之间没有来往。
A State Department official confirmed that two senior U.S. officials who were in Beirut Friday will travel to Damascus Saturday for talks with the Syrian government, which along with Iran has been a major supporter of Hezbollah.
美国国务院的一名官员说，两名美国高级外交官星期五抵达贝鲁特，他们星期六将前往大马士革与叙利亚政府会谈。叙利亚和伊朗一样都是真主党的重要支持者。
Despite major differences with Syria, the Obama administration has sought to revive dialogue with that country. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and National Security Council Middle East adviser Daniel Shapiro will be the highest-level U.S. officials to visit Damascus since 2005.
尽管美国与叙利亚之间存在重大分歧，奥巴马政府还是希望能够重启与叙利亚的对话。负责美国近东事务的代理助理国务卿费尔特曼和国家安全委员会中东问题顾问夏皮罗将是2005年以来访问大马士革的最高级别的美国官员。
Obama administration officials said the success to the opening to Syria will depend on that country's willingness to end support for terrorism and militant factions opposing Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
奥巴马政府官员说，与叙利亚对话的成功与否将取决于叙利亚是否愿意不再支持恐怖主义、也不支持反对巴勒斯坦和以色列和平努力的激进派系。 |