2006年VOA标准英语-UN Commission Seeks Interview With Syrian

By Karem Said
Cairo
02 January 2006
 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, left, and Vice¹ President Abdul-Halim Khaddam (file photo)  
  
The U.N. commission investigating the February 14 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has asked to interview Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and foreign minister Farouk al-Sharaa. The request follows statements issued by former Syrian vice president Abdel-Halim Khaddam that appear to implicate² President al-Assad in Mr. Harriri's death.

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In addition to interviews with the Syrian president and the foreign minister, the U.N. commission's spokeswoman said they will also seek an interview with former Syrian vice president Abdul-Halim Khaddam.

Mr. Khaddam, who lives in Paris, formally broke ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an interview Friday with the Pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Arribiyya. He alleged³ that in 2004 President al-Assad demanded Lebanon issue a three-year term extension for pro-Syrian then-president Emile Lahoud.

He said President al-Assad told Mr. Harriri that he would crush anyone who opposed Syria.

Syria's parliament recommended Saturday that Mr. Khaddam be tried for high treason, and the Baath Party has officially ousted⁴ him. He served as vice president under al-Assad's father, Hafez. He resigned in June.

Lebanese American University political science professor Sami Baroudi says it is unusual for a politician to act in a way that would break ties with the Baath Party, since defection in the past was met with harsh penalty. He said Mr. Khaddam's decision to issue statements against Syria offers further evidence of a weakening Baath Party.

"You know they had a fairly high level of discipline in the past, but I think currently, very few people still really believe in the ideology⁵ of the party. So I think, you know, major figures have reached a point where, you know, really the notion of loyalty⁶ to the party has gotten very weak, because ideologically⁷ the party is defunct," he said.

Professor Baroudi said Mr. Khaddam may have received some financial assistance for making his information public, although he believes the statements are essentially⁸ correct. He said they reflect the previous Syrian mode of thinking when dealing⁹ with Lebanon.

He predicts that Syria will amass¹⁰ a large file of corruption¹¹ charges against Mr. Khaddam in order to discredit¹² him, if one is not already available, but this strategy could backfire.

"He probably has, like, a bit of dirt, against the regime, and I am sure the regime has a great deal of dirt," explained Mr. Baroudi. "So I think it is going to be sort of a mutual¹³ recrimination. Many of the sayings they are going to say about him are also true, but again the question that bases itself: How could a regime that claims to be so committed, to socialist¹⁴, nationalistic values tolerate so much corruption in its midst? So the more the regime is going to reveal damaging stories about Khaddam, the more people are saying, 'Well, we know that. But, why did you keep him for so long in a leadership position?"

In a November speech, al-Assad told the Syrian people that he would never bow to foreign pressure. The former head of the U.N. commission, Detliv Mehlis, accused the Syrian government of not cooperating with the U.N. inquiry¹⁵. The committee is still waiting for Syria to respond to its interview requests.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 implicate   

vt.使牵连其中，涉嫌

参考例句：

• He didn't find anything in the notebooks to implicate Stu.他在笔记本中没发现任何涉及斯图的东西。
• I do not want to implicate you in my problem of the job.我工作上的问题不想把你也牵扯进来。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

5 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

6 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

7 ideologically   

adv. 意识形态上地，思想上地

参考例句：

• Ideologically, they have many differences. 在思想意识上，他们之间有许多不同之处。
• He has slipped back ideologically. 他思想退步了。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 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。

10 amass   

vt.积累，积聚

参考例句：

• How had he amassed his fortune?他是如何积累财富的呢？
• The capitalists amass great wealth by exploiting workers.资本家剥削工人而积累了巨额财富。

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

13 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

14 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

15 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。