Letter Bomb Explodes at European Parliament;

Letter Bomb Explodes at European Parliament;

No Injuries

 

Roger Wilkison

A letter bomb sent to a top member of the European Parliament in Brussels exploded Monday in his office, but no one was injured. Investigators¹ believe the incident is linked to several letter bombs that were sent last month from Italy to other European figures and institutions.

The bomb that detonated was addressed to conservative German lawmaker Hans-Gert Poettering, who heads the European People's Party, the biggest political group in the European Parliament.

Mr. Poettering was returning to Brussels from Germany at the time, and the aide who opened the videocassette-sized package suffered no injuries when it burst into flames.

Bomb disposal experts managed to neutralize² another suspicious parcel that was addressed to Jose Ignacio Salafranca, a Spanish member of Mr. Poettering's party.

A spokesman for the European Parliament, David Harley, says one or two other suspect packages are being checked by security officials.

Mr. Harley says the packages were mailed from the Italian city of Bologna on December 22. He says he does not know when they arrived at the European Parliament, which reopened on Monday after a long Christmas and New Year's holiday.

Four similar devices were mailed last month from Bologna to other European Union leaders and agencies. One was opened by the president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, at his home in Bologna. It did not hurt him, but caused a small fire.

Another was sent to the Frankfurt office of European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, and the others were mailed to the heads of Europol, an EU police agency, and Eurojust, an institution grouping European prosecutors⁴, both of which are based in The Hague. Those bombs also failed to cause any injuries.

On December 31, Italian authorities said they were blocking all mail sent from Bologna to European agencies.

Italian police have linked the devices to a little-known Italian anarchist⁵ group that took responsibility for setting off two small bombs in garbage cans outside Mr. Prodi's Bologna home on December 21.

The group says it planted the bombs to strike at what it called the repressive European control apparatus⁶.

 

注释：

European Parliament  欧洲议会

Brussels [5brQslz] n. 布鲁塞尔（比利时首都）

figure [5fi^E] n. 名人，名流

detonate [5detEuneit] v. 引爆

lawmaker [5lC:meIkE(r)] n. 立法者

Hans-Gert Poettering  汉斯-格特·派特林，德国基民盟成员，欧洲人民党与欧洲民主人士党团主席

European People's Party  欧洲人民党

aide [eid] n. （美）助手，副官

videocassette [5vidiEukB:5set] n. 录像带

bomb disposal expert  排弹专家

neutralize [5nju:trElaIz] v. 排除，致使无效

Bologna [bE5lEunjE] 博洛尼亚（意大利城市）

European Union (EU)  欧盟

European Commission  欧洲委员会

Romano Prodi  罗马诺·普罗迪，欧盟委员会主席，意大利前总理

Frankfurt  法兰克福

European Central Bank  欧洲中央银行

Jean-Claude Trichet  让·克洛德·特里谢，欧洲中央银行行长，同时还是国际货币基金组织轮值主席

Europol   欧洲警察

Eurojust  欧洲法庭

prosecutor³ [5prCsikju:tE] n. 检举人

Hague [hei^] n. 海牙（荷兰的中央政府所在地，在荷兰西部）

anarchist [5AnEkIst] n. 无政府主义者

set off  使爆炸

garbage can  垃圾桶

plant [plB:nt] vt. 安置

strike at  袭击，打击, 攻击

repressive [rI5presIv] adj. 压抑的，压制的

apparatus [7ApE5reitEs] n. 机构，机关

 

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 neutralize   

v.使失效、抵消，使中和

参考例句：

• Nothing could neutralize its good effects.没有什么能抵消它所产生的好影响。
• Acids neutralize alkalis and vice versa.酸能使碱中和碱，亦能使酸中和。

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

5 anarchist   

n.无政府主义者

参考例句：

• You must be an anarchist at heart.你在心底肯定是个无政府主义者。
• I did my best to comfort them and assure them I was not an anarchist.我尽量安抚他们并让它们明白我并不是一个无政府主义者。

6 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。