2006年VOA标准英语-Iraqi PM Urges Politicians to Put Aside Differe

By Margaret Besheer
Irbil
26 November 2006

Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki speaks after meeting with top Iraqi officials in Baghdad, 26 Nov 2006

The streets of the Iraqi capital remained mostly quiet Sunday, as a traffic ban remained in effect for a third day, following bombing attacks that killed more than 200 Shi'ites on Thursday. Meanwhile, embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appealed to his fellow politicians to stop the bloodshed. VOA's Margaret Besheer has more from northern Iraq.

Prime Minister Maliki appealed to the rival sectarian factions¹ in his government to end the political disagreements he says are behind the bloodshed and crisis of recent days.

Mr. Maliki said he asked the leaders of Iraq's National Security Council to form a united front against the terrorists and anyone else who does not want peace and security.

The prime minister is facing not only a security crisis, but a deepening political one, as well. His largest bloc² of Shi'ite supporters has threatened to withdraw from the government, if he goes to Jordan on Wednesday to meet with U.S. President Bush.

Meanwhile, outside Baghdad, there were reports of heavy clashes and some bomb attacks.

In the western province of al-Anbar, suspected Al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists attacked the Abu Soda³ tribe in the village of Sofia.

The U.S. military says al-Qaida burned homes and killed members of the tribe using small arms fire and mortars⁴. The Americans conducted air strikes and fired artillery⁵ at the attackers.

Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, chief of al-Anbar's Salvation⁶ Council, and himself the target of an assassination⁷ attempt Sunday, spoke⁸ by telephone with al-Iraqiyah television about the attack.

He says, a band of terrorists attacked the tribe, and their fighters fought back, killing⁹ more than 50 of the terrorists and destroying more than 50 of their vehicles.

The U.S. military could not confirm those figures, but said both al-Qaida and Abu Soda suffered casualties, but the exact numbers were not yet known.

Battles were also reported in the volatile¹⁰ city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, where police fought Sunni Arab insurgents¹¹, killing 11 militants¹².

The U.S. military also reported killing four suspected terrorists in the city during an early morning raid. Eleven suspects were also detained, including one who was hiding in a house dressed as a woman, pretending to nurse a baby.

Two car bomb attacks were reported in Mahmoudiya and Haswa, both south of the capital. Police say several people were killed and wounded in those explosions.

1 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

2 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

3 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

4 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

5 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

6 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

7 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

11 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。