VOA双语新闻 2008年1月：Motive Unclear（在线收听）

The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum says it is unclear why an American diplomat and his driver were shot and killed early Tuesday in the Sudanese capital.

美国驻苏丹大使馆说，目前还不清楚一位美国外交官和他的司机星期二早上在喀土穆被枪杀的原因。

The spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Walter Braunohler, tells VOA that the diplomat, an official working for the U.S. Agency for International Development, died while being treated for his wounds.

美国驻苏丹大使馆发言人布劳诺勒对美国之音说，遭到枪击的这名外交官是美国国际发展署的官员，他在接受治疗时死亡。

"Unfortunately, he succumbed to them and passed away," he said. "It is too early to tell why, exactly what happened, etc. There is an investigation on-going, and we are working closely with local authorities."

布劳诺勒说：“不幸的是，他受伤死亡。现在还无法说出枪击的原因以及当时到底发生了什么。我们正在同当地政府密切合作，进行调查。”

Braunohler declined to comment on a Sudanese Foreign Ministry statement, which said the American diplomat was in his car when he was shot five times in the hand, shoulder and stomach. The Sudanese statement said the car was heading toward a suburb west of Khartoum.

苏丹外交部发表的一份声明说，这名美国外交官遭到袭击时正在车里，他的头部、肩膀和腹部中了五枪。布劳诺勒拒绝对这一声明发表评论。这份声明还说，这名外交官的车当时正驶向喀土穆西郊。

The driver, a 40-year-old Sudanese national working for the embassy, was killed instantly.

这名外交官的司机是一名为美国使馆工作的40岁的苏丹人，他在遭袭后当场死亡。

American and Sudanese officials say they do not know whether the attack was a random criminal act or had a political motive.

美国和苏丹有关官员说，他们不知道这次袭击是一般性的犯罪活动还是出于政治原因。

U.S.-Sudanese relations have been tense because of the violence in Sudan's Darfur region.

由于苏丹达尔富尔地区的暴力情况，美国和苏丹的关系紧张。