VOA慢速英语2014 UN Diplomat Says Syria Talks to Continue Saturday 联合国外交官表示叙利亚谈判周六继续

 

UN Diplomat¹ Says Syria Talks to Continue Saturday 联合国外交官表示叙利亚谈判周六继续

From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.                                                                                                   

International efforts to bring an end to the conflict in Syria got off to a bad start on Friday.  Talks between the Syrian government and the opposition² coalition³ opened in Geneva, Switzerland.  But the two sides refused to hold direct negotiations⁴. 

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem is leading the government delegation⁵.  He announced he would leave if the talks do not get serious by Saturday.  At the same time, a leader of the opposition delegation rejected the idea of face-to-face negotiations.  Badr Jamous said there will be no direct talks until the government team accepts what is called the Geneva 1 communique.  That document is supposed to be the starting point for the talks.

The Geneva 1 communique calls for the establishment of a temporary government in Syria.  The opposition and its allies say that means Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must leave office.  The president and his allies disagree.

The United Nations and Arab League diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi is taking part in the talks between the government and the opposition.  He met with the two sides separately on Friday.  The diplomat had predicted that this kind of dispute might delay the talks.  But he expressed hope that he could get the two delegations⁶ to sit down together.  Late Friday, Mr. Brahimi said the talks will continue on Saturday, in his words, “in the same room.” 

Observers had predicted such difficulties. On Wednesday, the Syrian foreign minister and opposition leader made conflicting statements at an international conference in nearby Montreux, Switzerland.

David Butter is a Syria expert with London’s Chatham House.  He sees little hope of progress during the current talks.

“Both Syrian sides have got very different objectives going into it. And also, it’s in a context where you can’t really see either party to the internal conflict actually having any sort of decisive advantage, which would be the basis of some sort of bargaining process.” 

The distrust is making it difficult for the negotiations to move forward. 

The UN says more than nine million Syrians urgently need aid and many of them cannot be reached because of the fighting.  The three-year long Syrian conflict has killed an estimated 100 thousand people. 

For weeks, diplomats⁷ have been preparing for the talks in Switzerland.  Last Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited Iran to take part in the one-day meeting at Montreux.  But the Syrian National Coalition, threatened to boycott⁸ the talks if they included Iran.  The United States said the only way Iran could take part was by supporting the establishment of a temporary government in Syria with full executive powers.  This was an idea presented in the “Geneva 1 Communique”.  But, Iran has refused to say it supports the communique.                                                                                                   

That forced Mr. Ban’s spokesman to announce that Iran would not be attending the meeting in Montreux, nor the talks in Geneva. 

 

And that’s In the News from VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember. And a reminder: For the latest information on this story, go to VOA's main website:

1 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

2 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。

3 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。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

7 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。