VOA常速英语2008年-Top Hezbollah Commander Killed in Damascus Car

By Edward Yeranian
Beirut
13 February 2008

Lebanon's pro-Iranian Hezbollah guerilla group is accusing Israel in the car bomb explosion in Damascus, overnight, that killed Hezbollah terrorist Imad Mughniyeh - wanted in dozens of terror attacks Lebanon and elsewhere. Edward Yeranian reports from Beirut.

 

Hezbollah's al Manar Television announced its top foreign intelligence agent, Imad Mughniyeh, was killed in a car bomb explosion in Damascus, accusing Israel of masterminding the attack. Israel denies responsibility.

Mughniyeh was reputed to have led a group which hijacked¹ a TWA plane to Beirut in 1985. A U.S. Navy diver was killed in the incident. He has also been implicated² in bloody³ terror attacks in Lebanon against the U.S. Embassy and the Marine⁴ barracks in 1983, in which 241 Marines were killed.

Al Arabiya TV says that a small explosive device placed inside Mughniyeh's car, in an upscale Damascus neighborhood, exploded in the early morning, killing⁵ Mughniyeh instantly.

A Hezbollah statement calls Mughniyeh a "martyr," saying that he had "joined other martyrs⁶ of the Zionist Israelis."

Intelligence sources say that Mughniyeh had undergone plastic surgery, to alter his facial features, and that he spent much of his time in Iran and Syria.

Al Jazeera TV says the United States mounted several secret operations, in recent years, trying repeatedly to capture or kill Mughniyeh, but without success. There was a $25 million U.S. bounty⁷ on Mugniyah.

Israel has accused Mughniyeh of playing a part in the 1992 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Mughniyeh was being sought by 42 countries, for various terrorist acts.

Lebanese journalist Faisal abd al Satter, who is close to Hezbollah, calls Mughniyeh's killing a "cowardly act," and says that those that criticize Hezbollah are betraying Lebanon to the United States and Israel.

Al Satter calls the bombing a "dastardly attack."

Hezbollah says that Mughniyeh will be buried in his home village, Teyr Dibbah, in southern Lebanon, Thursday afternoon.

1 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

2 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

5 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。

6 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。