Arab League Meeting Adjourns Without Unified Agreement on Re

Arab League Meeting Adjourns¹ Without Unified² Agreement on Reforms

 

Kerry Sheridan

 

Foreign ministers from Arab League nations say they have not come to an agreement on plans for political reform in the Middle East.

 

Arab League secretary Amr Moussa says the ministers decided³ to put off further discussions about reform until the Arab League Summit in a few weeks.

Mr. Moussa said many ideas for political reform in the Arab world and reorganization of the Arab League were discussed during the four-day meeting in Cairo. But he said those discussions will have to continue.

 

Analysts⁴ had anticipated progress on a political reform program for the Middle East, after Egypt introduced a pair of proposals, partly in response to U.S. proposals the Arab nations do not like.

 

One of Egypt's proposals was designed to make the Arab League more effective. The other was to create a regional plan for political changes, driven by countries in the Middle East, to counter the American proposal known as the Greater Middle East Initiative.

 

The deputy director of Cairo's Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Mohammed El-Sayed Said, says external pressures may have made sorting out the details impossible.

 

"The American influence is also a great shadow on the prospect⁵ of reaching consensus⁶ on the way to reform the Arab League. Even though the general ideas are more or less acceptable to all Arab states, the details are not."

 

Mr. Said also says the Arab League makes decisions by consensus. Every country has veto power over any potential resolution, which can make progress difficult.

 

"The general tendency within the Arab League regional system is to always keep to this rule of general consensus which is seen by many to be a big hindrance⁷ to the evolution of a stronger regional system."

 

Officials say the next chance for agreement on the reform ideas will be at the Arab League Summit in Tunis at the end of this month.

 

注释：

Arab League secretary Amr Moussa  阿拉伯国家联盟秘书长穆萨

Arab League Summit  阿盟领导人峰会

proposal [prE5pEuz] vt. 建议

Greater Middle East Initiative  大中东计划

deputy director  副主任

Cairo's Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studie  开罗的阿拉哈拉姆政治和战略研究中心

Cairo [5kaiErEu] n. 开罗（埃及首都）

sort out 挑选出

consensus [kEn5sensEs] n. 一致同意

hindrance [5hindrEns] n. 妨碍，障碍

Tunis [5tju:nis] n. 突尼斯

1 adjourns   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Congress adjourns in 3 weeks, we can't do this alone. 距国会开会只有3个星期，我们不能单干。
• And so, at six in the morning, a victorious Convention adjourns. 这样，早上六点，胜利的国民议会休会了。

2 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

7 hindrance   

n.妨碍，障碍

参考例句：

• Now they can construct tunnel systems without hindrance.现在他们可以顺利地建造隧道系统了。
• The heavy baggage was a great hindrance to me.那件行李成了我的大累赘。