VOA慢速英语2015 沙特国王拒绝赴美参加海湾峰会

Saudi King to Skip US-Gulf¹ Meeting 沙特国王拒绝赴美参加海湾峰会

The leader of Saudi Arabia will not take part in talks with U.S. and other Arab officials this week. Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced on the decision on Sunday. He said King Salman will send Crown Prince Mohammed bin² Nayef to the U.S.-Arab summit in Washington.  

The summit opens Wednesday at the White House. President Barack Obama will welcome representatives of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council. Then, on Thursday, the talks move to Camp David in the mountains of Maryland. Since the 1950s, presidents have used Camp David to hold meetings away from the noise of Washington and the news media.

U.S. officials say the talks are to include discussions on deepening security cooperation with Gulf nations and "seeking common approaches" to the conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen.

An Obama administration official said King Salman’s decision to stay in Saudi Arabia was "not in response to any substantive³ issue."

Saudi Arabia has led airstrikes against anti-government fighters in Yemen. Mr. Jubeir cited the summit's overlap⁴ with a five-day cease-fire and humanitarian⁵ efforts there.

Now, only the leaders of Qatar and Kuwait will be heading their delegations⁷. Kuwait's emir, Sabah Ahmad al-Sabah, traveled to Washington on Sunday. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was to leave Doha on Monday.

Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said and United Arab Emirates President Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan are missing the summit for health reasons. The delegation⁶ from Bahrain will be led by its crown prince, not King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa. Bahrain’s government has not said why the King is not attending.

Middle East expert Jonathan Adelman is with the University of Denver in Colorado. He says health and the ceasefire are not the only reasons for the absences of several leaders. He says another problem is disagreements over the direction of international nuclear negotiations⁹ with Iran.

Mr. Adelman says that for the United States, Iran is a far-away land and that fact affects U.S. policies and plans. He says officials in Washington think of Iranian officials as somewhat reasonable.

“The Iranians are seen as quasi rational actors, that with the kind of good deal they’re going to be offered, they’re going to basically, to put it in simple language, they are going to behave.”

But he notes Iran is very near the countries invited to the summit. He says Saudi Arabia, for example, is about 560 kilometers from Iran. He says Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab countries are deeply afraid of Iran’s Shiite fundamentalism.

“It’s a real difference in perception between the two sides and I think the Saudis and Emirates are really deeply afraid because they don’t, well they have deep pockets, they don’t have exceptionally first rate militaries.”

Jonathan Adelman says he does not think the U.S. will be able to persuade the Sunni Arab countries to support the nuclear deal that is forming. He says those countries first want a security agreement with the U.S. similar to NATO. Or, he says, they want U.S. assistance in strengthening their militaries.

Mr. Adelman says the Obama administration does not seem interested in either idea. And, he says, the U.S. does not appear interested in forming such an alliance.

“It is possible it (the summit) will be a success but I think the fact that the three leaders are not coming is a telltale sign that the odds¹⁰ are stacked against it.”

Professor Nabeel Khoury of Northwestern University agrees that the leaders' absence hurts chances for success at the summit. He says he also is not hopeful about the U.S. and Saudi ceasefire plan for Yemen. He said it should help in getting aid to those in need, but not serve the larger goal of ending the Shi’ite Houthi rebellion in the country.

“It’s not a hopeful sign in terms of the broader agreement that one is looking for. In other words: stopping this war and moving to the negotiation⁸ tables again in a much more effective way than was achieved in the past.”

Words in This Story

summit – n. a meeting or series of meetings between the leaders of two or more governments

approach – n. a way of dealing¹¹ with something; a way of doing or thinking about something

cite – v. to mention (something) especially as an example or to support an idea or opinion

overlap – n. to happen at the same time as something else

fundamentalism – n. the strict following and literal understanding of rules and laws, especially about religion

deep pockets – an expression meaning being rich or having a lot of money

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 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。

3 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

4 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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

8 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

9 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。

10 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

11 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。