VOA标准英语2009年-Sudanese President Makes High-Profile Trip

Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is visiting Egypt on his first high-profile trip abroad, and second to a neighboring country in three days. Mr. Bashir is meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in an apparent attempt to seek reassurances¹ he will not be arrested at an Arab summit in Qatar.
　
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (L) meets with Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, 25 March 2009

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir at the airport in Cairo, in a show of solidarity² with the beleaguered³ Sudanese leader, before holding talks at presidential headquarters, outside the capital.

Al-Bashir's trip to Egypt is his second since a warrant for his arrest was issued on March 4 by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in Darfur. Egypt is not a signatory of the court's founding charter, and is not obligated to arrest him.

The 22-member Arab League also says it will not implement⁴ the international arrest warrant, while Qatar, which is hosting an Arab summit next week, has repeated a pledge not to arrest him even though it is a signatory to the court charter.

Qatar Prime Minister Hamad bin⁵ Jasim bin Jaber al-Thani says Qatar is coming under "increasing pressure" not to welcome him.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters Egypt and Sudan are cooperating to find a solution to the crisis.

He says that there is a joint⁶ Egyptian, Arab and African position not to accept the way the international court is dealing⁷ with the case of the Sudanese president. He adds that discussions are also centered around the situation in Darfur, how to end that conflict and ways to guarantee the humanitarian⁸ situation. Egypt, he says, has pledged to give Sudan humanitarian assistance.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor Kuol says Sudan's government is contemplating⁹ what to do about President Bashir's upcoming trip to Qatar.

"President Bashir's visit to Qatar differs substantially from visits to Egypt or Eritrea, and, therefore, the Sudanese government is studying the situation and will make its decision [on whether he should attend], later," he said. "Sudan will try government officials on charges of crimes related to the Darfur crisis in its own courts. A special Sudanese prosecutor¹⁰ has been appointed for Darfur."

President Al-Bashir sparked further international outrage¹¹ when he recently expelled 13 international aid agencies, adding to fears of a worsening spiral of violence and further humanitarian tragedy in Darfur.

He has been charged with war crimes related to a counter-insurgency against Darfur rebels, punctuated¹² by rapes¹³, killings¹⁴ and other atrocities¹⁵ against civilians¹⁶.

Sudan's Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmed Haroun, who is also accused of war crimes in Darfur, told al-Arabiya TV the International Criminal Court is a "European Guantanamo ... that will surely convict us, because the United States and Europe are trying to impose their neo-colonial agendas on us."

He also warned the United States "not to meddle¹⁷ in Sudan's internal affairs," claiming that Washington should "not play world policeman after what it has done in Iraq."

He went on to deny charges of war crimes, claiming that the United Nations has "vastly exaggerated casualty figures for Darfur in 2008."

1 reassurances   

n.消除恐惧或疑虑( reassurance的名词复数 )；恢复信心；使人消除恐惧或疑虑的事物；使人恢复信心的事物

参考例句：

• We have had some reassurances from the council that the building will be saved. 理事会保证会保留那座建筑，这使我们得到了些许安慰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Everybody's reassurances have encouraged me. 大家的勉励鼓舞了我。 来自辞典例句

2 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

3 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

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 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

10 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

11 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

12 punctuated   

v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物

参考例句：

• Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause. 她的讲演不时被阵阵掌声打断。
• The audience punctuated his speech by outbursts of applause. 听众不时以阵阵掌声打断他的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

14 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

15 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

17 meddle   

v.干预，干涉，插手

参考例句：

• I hope he doesn't try to meddle in my affairs.我希望他不来干预我的事情。
• Do not meddle in things that do not concern you.别参与和自己无关的事。