Pakistani President Downplays Threats Against His Life

Stephanie Ho

Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, is downplaying concerns about his safety, saying he is not losing any sleep over recent terrorist threats against his life.

President Musharraf says he is not worried about threats against him, which were made last week in a tape said to be the voice of al Qaida's number-two leader, Ayman al Zawahiri. The Pakistani leader's comments were featured in an interview broadcast by ABC television. "For heaven's sake, just one tape. Let us not be excited. Just one tape, which we can - even if he is alone, with Osama [bin¹ Laden²], somewhere in the mountain, he can make that tape and issue it, and we get excited and worried. What is the worry? They can never take over," he said.

He added that he is confident he, personally, has nothing to fear. "I do not have any sleepless³ nights, by the way. I am very comfortable. We will handle the situation, and I am very sure nothing will happen," he said.

President Musharraf survived two assassination⁴ attempts in December. He says there are still al Qaida remnants in the South Waziristan tribal⁵ region, but that he would like to eliminate all of them. Pakistani government troops launched a military offensive there nearly two weeks ago. More than 50 suspected terrorists and a significant number of Pakistan troops have died in the clashes.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani leader added that, as a Muslim, he is offended that al Qaida terrorism network leader Osama bin Laden would invoke⁶ Islam.

"We are all Muslims here. And he is just, for nothing, misusing⁷ the name of Islam, bringing a bad name to the religion," he said.

President Musharraf also repeated denials that the Pakistani government or military were involved in a recently-discovered nuclear proliferation network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan. Before the network was broken up earlier this year, it sold nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

注释:
Pakistan [7pB:kis5tB:n] n. 巴基斯坦，亚洲南部的一个国家，，伊斯兰马巴德是首都，卡拉奇是最大的城市。
downplay [`daJnpleI] vt. 不予重视
al Qaida  基地组织
feature [5fi:tFE] vt. 放映
ABC [5eibi:5si:] abbr. 全称为American Broadcasting Company，美国广播公司
for one's sake 看在……的份上
tape [teip] n. 录音带
assassination [E7sAsi5neiFEn] n. 暗杀
Waziristan [wE9zIErI5stB:n] 瓦齐里斯坦，巴基斯坦西北部山区，靠阿富汗边界，被分成北瓦齐里斯坦和南瓦齐里斯坦。
tribal [5traibEl] adj. 部落的，种族的
Pakistani [7pB:kis5tB:ni] adj. 巴基斯坦的
Muslim [5muzlim] n. 伊斯兰教徒
invoke [in5vEuk] v. 调用
Islam [5izlB:m] n. <总称> 伊斯兰信徒
nuclear proliferation  核扩散
Libya [5libiE] n. 利比亚，北非的一个国家，位于地中海沿岸。
Iran [i5rB:n] n. 伊朗，斯亚洲西南部国家，德黑兰是首都和最大的城市。
North Korea 朝鲜，朝鲜半岛上的东北亚国家，平壤为其首都和最大城市。

1 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。

2 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

3 sleepless   

adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的

参考例句：

• The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
• One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上，我听说了一个传闻，把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。

4 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。

5 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

6 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

7 misusing   

v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说，我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网