2006年VOA标准英语-Taylor Supporters Seek New Asylum Deal

By Joe Bavier
Abidjan
27 March 2006
 

Compound of the house where former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor lives near the sea side town of Calaber  
  
Supporters close to deposed¹ Liberian leader Charles Taylor say they are seeking a new asylum² deal for the former warlord, as pressure mounts for his extradition³. Liberia's president says she wants him sent directly to Sierra Leone's special court.

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Charles Taylor has lived in exile in Nigeria since 2003, when he agreed to leave power, an act that ended nearly a decade and a half of on and off civil war in Liberia.

But the Nigerian government recently agreed to hand him over to Liberian authorities, following a request from Liberia's newly elected president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

A Taylor spiritual adviser⁴, K.A. Paul, says he is trying reach a deal with the government of Ethiopia to grant the deposed Liberian president asylum.

"I have asked him if he would like me to arrange another asylum somewhere else. If Charles Taylor is not allowed to stay in Nigeria, I want him to stay somewhere else until the right time comes for him to face charges. That is why I am in Ethiopia," he said.

Paul says he is in similar negotiations⁵ with several other countries, and that at least one of them has already agreed to accept Taylor.

But Taylor's whereabouts are unclear. Paul, who was with Taylor when he negotiated his original asylum deal with Nigeria three years ago, says he has disappeared from his villa⁶ in the southern Nigerian city of Calabar.

Various international media also reported Taylor is missing. His spokesman in Nigeria, Sylvester Paasewe, said reports Taylor had fled are false.

If Taylor is extradited from Nigeria, there is confusion over where he will be sent next. The Nigerian government has long refused to honor a request by the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone to have him stand trial for war crimes related to his role in that country's civil war. Nigeria says Taylor can only be handed over to Liberian authorities.

But Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf said Taylor should not return to Liberia, which has only recently formed a new democratically elected government. She said he should be sent directly to the special court in Freetown.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has warned that security around Taylor's home must be tightened⁷ to prevent him from fleeing. Liberian democracy advocate Ezekiel Pajibo says the government of Nigeria must do more to facilitate Taylor's handover.

"Nigeria has abdicated⁸ its international responsibilities to have Mr. Taylor delivered to Sierra Leone. So it put the onus⁹ on the Liberian government. The Liberian government does not have the means to do that," said Pajibo.

Taylor led a brutal¹⁰ rebel campaign to overthrow¹¹ Liberia's then-president Samuel Doe in the 1990s, before eventually being elected president himself. He is facing 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for backing rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone.

1 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

3 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

4 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

7 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

8 abdicated   

放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 退位，逊位

参考例句：

• He abdicated in favour of his son. 他把王位让给了儿子。
• King Edward Ⅷ abdicated in 1936 to marry a commoner. 国王爱德华八世于1936年退位与一个平民结婚。

9 onus   

n.负担；责任

参考例句：

• The onus is on government departments to show cause why information cannot bedisclosed.政府部门有责任说明不能把信息公开的理由。
• The onus of proof lies with you.你有责任提供证据。

10 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

11 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。