VOA常速英语2008年-US Calls on Sudan to Stop Backing Chad Rebels

By David Gollust
State Department
04 February 2008

The United States has made a high-level appeal to Sudan to halt any help it may be giving to rebels menacing the Chadian capital, N'Djamena. Remaining U.S. diplomats¹ in Chad have left the embassy for the safety of the French-protected international airport. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Bush administration officials are discounting Sudanese denials of involvement in the rebel offensive, and are calling on the Khartoum government to do all it can to curb² the rebels and end the Chad fighting, which has added to the instability of the region.

Sudan has long been accused of sheltering and providing arms to the rebels and Chadian authorities alleged³ Sunday that Sudanese forces had provided air support for rebel attacks on government positions.

At a news briefing, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States has expressed its concern over the situation to the highest levels of the Sudanese government:

"We have gone in at very high levels of the Sudanese government to say that if there is any support from the Sudanese government to these rebels that that should end immediately, and that any influence they might have with the rebels they should use in order to tell them to withdraw," said Sean McCormack. "We've done this at the highest level of our embassy in Khartoum directly into the presidency⁵ as well as the ministry⁶ of foreign affairs."

In a statement Saturday, the State Department joined the African Union in condemning⁷ what it said was an attempt by rebels, entering from outside the country, to seize power in Chad. It appealed for calm and an immediate⁴ end to armed attacks.

Spokesman McCormack confirmed that the U.S. diplomatic staff in N'Djamena abandoned the embassy compound amid gunfire over the weekend in the city center.

Non-essential members of the U.S. embassy staff, along with the families all U.S. officials based in Chad, have been evacuated⁸.

Only four U.S. diplomats, including Ambassador Louis Nigro, remain on duty - based temporarily at the N'Djamena international airport, which is being protected by French troops.

The evacuation of the embassy in Chad was the first incident of its kind in many years, perhaps since 1979 when Iranian militants⁹ took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran after Iran's Islamic revolution.

McCormack said the premises¹⁰ in N'Djamena were secured according to emergency procedures, which presumably include the destruction of classified documents and equipment.

The spokesman said the embassy compound remains¹¹ sovereign U.S. territory under international law and said if rebels or others have entered the buildings, they should leave immediately.

The State Department Saturday warned Americans to defer¹² non-essential travel to Chad because of the security situation, and urged those already there to consider departing.

McCormack said several hundred private U.S. citizens are believed to be in Chad, and that about 100 had availed themselves of evacuation flights in the last few days.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

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 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。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

10 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。