IN THE NEWS - Saudis Dispute Terror Critics

IN THE NEWS - December 7, 2002: Saudis Dispute Terror Critics

By Jerilyn Watson

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS.

This week, the government of Saudi Arabia announced measures to prevent money from reaching terror groups.
The Saudi government also disputed accusations¹ that it has failed to do this in the past.

The administration of President Bush welcomed the Saudi announcement. The Bush administration had
suggested recently that Saudi officials do more to fight terror.

Adel al-Jubeir is an advisor² to Saudi Arabia’s acting³ ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah. Mister al-Jubeir told
reporters in Washington Tuesday that Saudi Arabia has been criticized unfairly. He said his nation is the victim
of a campaign that borders on hate.

Mister al-Jubeir condemned⁴ al-Qaida as a terrorist organization. He said Saudi Arabia is a target for Osama bin⁵
Laden⁶. The al-Qaida leader was born there. He is thought to have plotted the attacks on America of September
eleventh, two-thousand-one.

Mister al-Jubeir noted⁷ that fifteen of the nineteen suspects killed in the attacks were Saudi citizens. He said al-
Qaida did this on purpose to harm Saudi ties with the United States.

A new report describes steps the Saudi government says it has taken since the September eleventh attacks. They
include ordering financial investigations⁹ of Saudi organizations that give money to people suffering or the needy¹⁰.
Saudi officials created a government agency to supervise these charities. Saudi Arabia says it is establishing a
process to follow the movement of charity money. It also is developing rules for sending charity money to other
countries.

Saudi charities receive as much as four-thousand-million dollars every year. Of that, Mister al-Jubeir said only
about ten percent is sent out of the country. He said the Saudi government has not found evidence that charity
money is reaching terrorists. He also said it was possible that terrorists may have received some money
mistakenly or through other groups.

Some reports say the Federal Bureau of Investigation⁸ had examined charity payments made by Princess Haifa al-
Faisal. Her husband is the Saudi ambassador to the United States.

Saudi Arabia says it suspended activity in thirty-three bank accounts containing more than five-million-fivehundred-thousand dollars. The money belonged to three people. One of them, Wael Hamza Julaidan, served as a
director for a Saudi charity. He is suspected of having ties to Osama bin Laden.

Mister al-Jubeir said Saudi officials have questioned many people about al-Qaida. He said more than two-
thousand people have been questioned since the attacks in the United States. He said more than one-hundred are
still being held.

Both the United States Treasury¹¹ Department and the State Department praised Saudi cooperation in the campaign
against terrorism. Political observers say the Bush Administration wants Saudi Arabia’s support if there is a war
with Iraq.

This VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS, was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Steve Ember.

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1 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

6 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

11 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。