VOA常速英语2008年-Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia Snub Arab League S

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo, Egypt
26 March 2008

Egypt says it is sending a junior minister to the Arab League summit scheduled for Damascus this weekend.  Lebanon is boycotting² the meeting, and Saudi Arabia will also send a low-level delegation³.  The diplomatic snubs of Syria are linked to tension over the Lebanese political crisis.  VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

Egypt says a junior cabinet minister will head its delegation to the Arab League summit set to begin in Damascus on Saturday.  Saudi Arabia earlier said it was also downgrading its representation at the summit, and Lebanon said it would boycott¹ it altogether.

Earlier in the week, Egypt had said that its foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, would lead the Egyptian delegation in Damascus.  But officials now say the minister of state for legal affairs will attend the meeting instead.  The change came after Saudi Arabia announced that it would send its Arab League ambassador rather than the king or foreign minister. 

The moves amount to serious diplomatic snubs of the host, Syria, for a meeting that is normally attended by heads of state or, at the very least, foreign ministers.  Syria's relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated⁴ over a number of issues, including the Palestinian factional divide and relations with Iran, but the Lebanese presidential crisis is seen as the main reason that the leaders are staying away from Damascus.

The announcement left Syrian and Arab League officials defending the summit against predictions that it will fail.

In Damascus, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa found himself fielding questions about whether Egypt and Saudi Arabia were snubbing the summit in an effort to undermine it. He denied that the intention was to make the Syrian summit fail, but he acknowledged that "there are complications in Arab relations."

Moussa used to be Egypt's foreign minister, and was clearly uncomfortable fielding questions about his own country's decision.

He insisted that Egypt will be represented at the summit, and that all important matters will be discussed there.  But he added that he would not "analyze⁵ Arab-Arab relations in a news conference." 

Moussa said the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and the factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah would remain on the agenda along with other regional issues.

He acknowledged that Lebanon's absence will make it difficult to take action on the Lebanese political crisis, but he insisted that the issue will remain on the table.

Syria says only countries that send leaders to the summit will be allowed to address it.

Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem refrained from criticizing Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but not Lebanon.

He said "Lebanon has lost a golden chance" to discuss its political crisis at the Syrian summit, and another "golden chance" to discuss Syrian-Lebanese relations.

The governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon accuse Syria of blocking the election of a new president in Lebanon which has been without a president since November.  Syria denies it has been meddling⁶ in Lebanese politics.  

Moallem suggested that the real hand behind the summit boycott was the United States, a close ally of the Egyptian, Saudi and Lebanese governments but a constant critic of Syria.

A spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry⁷ was not available for comment, but a spokesman for President Hosni Mubarak told the Associated Press that every country has the right to decide on its representative.  He said the matter was not open to question.

Syria has never before hosted an Arab League summit. The Arab states awarded this year's annual summit to Damascus during last year's meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  The move was seen as a reward for Syria's agreement to sign on to the Arab peace initiative aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.  But in the year since then, the Lebanese political crisis and the factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah have divided the Arab world, with Syria on the opposite side of both issues from Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Syria is a key backer of Lebanon's opposition⁸, led by Hezbollah, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia are allies of the Lebanese government and ruling March 14 coalition⁹.

The crisis had led to earlier speculation¹⁰ that the summit would be canceled, moved or postponed¹¹, but the Arab League and Syria have insisted that it go ahead on schedule.  

1 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

2 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

3 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。

4 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

5 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

6 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

11 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。