VOA标准英语2008年-Fresh Sectarian Clashes Erupt in Lebanon's Beka

By Edward Yeranian
Beirut
17 June 2008

Lebanese Army sources are reporting that at least three people were killed in sectarian clashes, overnight, in two warring Bekaa Valley villages. It was the second time in a week that fighting has erupted in the region, as Edward Yeranian reports from Beirut.
　

Lebanese army soldiers sit on their armored personnel carriers, patrol in the village of Taalabaya after overnight clashes in the Bekaa valley, 17 Jun 2008

Gunfire erupted overnight in two neighboring villages in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, leaving several casualties.

Lebanon's New TV reports that dozens of villagers have fled their houses in the towns of Saadnayel and Taalbaya because of the fighting and that the Lebanese Army is trying to regain¹ control of large swathes of territory controlled by rival militiamen.

The main highway was also reportedly closed due to the fighting, with rockets landing near the roadside, frightening motorists.

It was the second time in a week that pro-government Sunni militiamen have clashed with pro-Hezbollah Shi'ite rivals. Shi'ite and Sunni muslim communities in the Bekaa Valley have a lengthy² history of clan³ rivalry⁴.

The French press agency, AFP, reports that overnight fighting quickly got out of hand, with rival militiamen "firing automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortar⁵ shells."

Member of Parliament Assem Araji, who belongs to the pro-Hezbollah "People's Movement" pleaded with Lebanon's top political leaders to intervene quickly to quell⁶ the recent wave of violence.

He says negotiations⁷ need to be held on the local level, and especially high-level political talks in Beirut to stop the deterioration⁸ of the situation in the Central Bekaa region, because it is a tinderbox. He says anyone who knows the area knows that a crisis there will affect the entire region and that everyone is pleading for something to be done.

Unrest and sectarian violence between Lebanon's Sunni-muslim and Shi'ite-muslim communities spread from Beirut to other parts of the country, after a military show of force by the pro-Syrian Hezbollah, which briefly⁹ took control of mostly Sunni West Beirut on May 9.

The fighting in Beirut ended with a political agreement between feuding¹⁰ Lebanese leaders in Doha, Qatar, and the election of a new president, Army Commander Michel Suleiman, alongside an accord to form of national unity¹¹ government, which remains¹² in limbo¹³.

Dr. Paul Salem, Director of the Carnegie Center for Peace in the Middle East, says that one should not read too much into the recent Bekaa Valley fighting, and he does not think that the situation is going to spiral out of control.

"I think its part of this aftershock of the earthquake that happened in May in Beirut," he explained. "Tensions rose all over the country, in the north and in parts of Mount Lebanon, and parts of the Bekaa. But, I think the Bekaa is more prone¹⁴, because people are more armed, they are more clannish¹⁵, and things got a bit out of hand. I do not see it as an overwhelming concern, because I think between the army and the president, Hezbollah and Syria, in general - who are now closer to be reading from the same page - they do sort of want to clamp down on things."

Tensions between Lebanon's Sunnis and Shi'ites, however, have yet to subside¹⁶, and the country's top Sunni religious leader, Sheikh Mohammed Rachid Qabbani is demanding that Hezbollah "apologize for last month's attack on Beirut."

1 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

2 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

3 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

4 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

5 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

6 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

7 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。

8 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

9 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

10 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

11 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

12 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。

13 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

14 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

15 clannish   

adj.排他的，门户之见的

参考例句：

• They were a clannish lot,not given to welcoming strangers.他们那帮人抱成一团，不怎么欢迎生人。
• Firms are also doggedly clannish on the inside.公司内部同时也具有极其顽固的排他性。

16 subside   

vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降

参考例句：

• The emotional reaction which results from a serious accident takes time to subside.严重事故所引起的情绪化的反应需要时间来平息。
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon.围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。