VOA标准英语2008年-US Zimbabwe Envoy Urges African Pressure on Mug

U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee says government-inspired violence against opposition¹ supporters continues unabated despite U.N. Security Council condemnation² of the Robert Mugabe government. McGee, who spoke³ to U.S. reporters in a conference call, is urging Southern African countries to take a stronger stand against political repression⁴ there. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.
　
James McGee, US Ambassador to Zimbabwe

Ambassador McGee, who has taken a high public profile in the election crisis, welcomed Monday's U.N. Security Council statement which he said properly blames the Mugabe government for the violence against Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

But he said that given the fact that landlocked Zimbabwe is so economically and politically dependent on its neighbors, a similarly firm statement from the Southern African regional grouping SADC might be more effective in getting the Harare government to change course.

"Leaders in the SADC region need to come out with a clear statement, just like we've had from the United Nations, that this is an illegitimate regime that's conducting an illegitimate election. Mr. Tsvangirai has asked to make this election null and void and we agree that that's probably the best course," he said.

The U.S. envoy⁵ said despite the call from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for an election postponement⁶, the ruling ZANU-PF party remains⁷ in what he termed "full campaign mode" and apparently⁸ intends to force people to the polls Friday despite Mr. Tsvangirai's withdrawal⁹.

"They're saying we want an election at all costs. We want to validate¹⁰ Mr. Mugabe's victory here. So the MDC's withdrawal was regrettable but it's very understandable. The people of the MDC were being massacred. And unfortunately as I said right at the beginning, the violence has not abated," added McGee.

McGee said he was told by the Dutch ambassador to Harare, who has provided Mr. Tsvangirai safe-haven, that a senior government official has given an assurance that the Dutch embassy will not be raided, and that the opposition leader will not be harmed.

The U.S. envoy said the Zimbabwean Foreign Ministry¹¹ advised the Dutch ambassador that the opposition leader could leave the country at any time, though McGee questioned how that would be possible given that Tsvangirai's passport was confiscated¹² last month.

In a talk with reporters here, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the United States is looking to meetings of SADC and African Union officials planned for the next few days to underscore that it cannot be "business as usual" with the Harare government if the runoff vote goes forward.

"If the election takes place and Mugabe stands up there and declares himself president again, on the basis of that, I think it's going to be uniformly rejected by the international community and I think there will be consequences for Zimbabwe as a whole, if it in effect has a government that no one views as having any credibility," said Casey.

Bush administration officials have spoken of the possibility of toughening the targeted U.S. sanctions already in place against Mr. Mugabe and close associates.

But they say no consideration is being given to withdrawing Ambassador McGee, because of his vital monitoring role.

McGee said in the conference call he is not afraid of being expelled, and that he and other U.S. diplomats¹³ will continue to try to circulate around the country and report on any abuses they observe.

　

 

1 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。

2 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

5 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

6 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

7 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。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

10 validate   

vt.（法律）使有效，使生效

参考例句：

• You need an official signature to validate the order.你要有正式的签字，这张汇票才能生效。
• In order to validate the agreement,both parties sign it.为使协议有效，双方在上面签了字。

11 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。

12 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

13 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》