Saudi Officials Say Khobar Hostages Freed

 

Ursula Lindsey

Saudi commandos freed about 50 hostages early Sunday. When the commandos landed on the roof of the building Sunday morning, their immediate¹ goal was to free the hostages. But leading Arab columnist² and expert on Islamic affairs Fahmy Howeidi says the Saudi government was also sending a message to terrorist cells operating in the kingdom.
"As far as I know, the Saudi authorities do not agree with any negotiations⁴ with those groups, because the people who are using violence, and using weapons, [there is] no point in talking with them," he said.
Mr. Howeidi says the raid was particularly successful, because it resulted in the capture of some of the attackers, including their leader. He says that is very unusual, and indicates that they were caught off guard.
"They were surprised, and they did not consider the Saudi authorities would act like this," said Mr. Howeidi. "Usually, they do not allow Saudis to arrest anyone. They do prefer to commit suicide, rather than being arrested by the Saudis."
Saturday's shooting and hostage-taking was the third attack against foreigners in Saudi Arabia in the last month. New agencies report that the al-Qaida terrorist network has claimed responsibility for the attack, in a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.
The gunmen launched their attack Saturday morning by opening fire in the offices of the Al-Khobar Petroleum⁵ Center, killing⁶ several foreigners. They then went on to storm three surrounding residential⁷ compounds, killing more people, including a 10-year-old Egyptian boy. The attackers then took refuge in an apartment building, holding the residents hostage.

注释：
Khobar 胡拜尔市（沙特产油区港口城市）
commando [kE5mAndEJ] n. 突击队
hostage [5hCstidV] n. 人质
columnist [5kClEmnist] n. 专栏作家
cell [sel] n. 单元，这里特指恐怖分子的巢穴
negotiation³ [ni7^EuFi5eiFEn] n. 谈判
raid [reId] n. 搜捕
indicate [5indikeit] vt. 象征，预示
commit [kE5mit] vt. 犯（错误），干（坏事）
suicide [5sjuisaid] n. 自杀
claim…for 主张，提出要求
launch [lC:ntF] vt. 发动，发起
residential compounds 居民住宅区

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

3 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。

4 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。

5 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

6 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。

7 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。