British Military Encouraging Iraqi Surrender in Basra

Broadcast: Apr 05, 2003

 

The British military is encouraging militant¹ supporters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to surrender in the southern city of Basra.

British military officials say leaders of the ruling Baath party of Saddam Hussein should give up now to avoid more civilian² deaths in Basra.

This in reaction to a report in the pan-Arab Asharq al-Aswat newspaper that Baath Party activists³ want to surrender if Baghdad falls because they fear ¹⁾reprisals from the citizens of Basra.

A British Army spokesman, Captain Al Lockwood, told British radio Saturday he would encourage the Baath militants⁵ to give up the fight. "My word to them would be to take the initiative. There are many avenues available to them to contact our forces and if they wish to surrender the city we would help them enormously, more than willing, and let's stop the fighting and any chance of ²⁾civilian casualties," he said.

British forces have surrounded Basra since the early days of the campaign, which began March 20, and Captain Lockwood says there is still no hurry to rush into the city. "In reality we can't speed the fall of Basra. We are conscience obviously of the people who live there. Their safety is our primary concern," he said. "We are treating it very carefully. They are becoming more confident in us every day. We are getting lots of very good information from people who are talking to us. And resistance is dropping off as the days go on."

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said aid deliveries in British-controlled parts of southern Iraq have been ^3）chaotic⁶. But Captain Lockwood said the criticism was unfair. He said in the past four days the British have successfully delivered 100,000 meals and 750,000 liters of water to the area's population.

Michael Drudge⁷ VOA news, London.

 

1)    reprisal⁴ [ri5praizEl]n.报复

2)    civilian casualties平民伤亡

3)    chaotic [kei5Ctik]adj.混乱的, 无秩序的

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。

5 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。

6 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

7 drudge   

n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳

参考例句：

• I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
• I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。