2006年VOA标准英语-Sri Lanka Says Tamil Rebels Propose Peace Talks

By Patricia Nunan
New Delhi
13 August 2006

The Sri Lankan government says the Tamil Tiger rebels have offered to resume peace talks, which could bring an end to nearly three weeks of fighting in the country's north and east. But international monitors mediating¹ peace efforts say they have received no formal communications about talks, and fighting between the two sides continues. 

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Sri Lankan officials say the Tamil Tiger leadership had offered Friday to return to the negotiating table - a proposal the government signaled it would be keen to accept. Since then, officials say, they have not heard from the Tamil Tigers.

Friday's initial messages were relayed informally through ceasefire monitors from the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission, the SLMM. But its spokesman, Thorfinnur Omarsson, says any possible talks remain on hold, because the SLMM has received no official communication from either side.

"It's not yet there," he said. "We hope that they will do it, but we are still waiting for a formal request."

No comments about peace talks have been posted on a pro-rebel webpage that frequently carries comments from the Tamil Tiger leadership.

A day after the rebels' reported offer to meet the government, fighting erupted on the Jaffna peninsula in the north of the country - the second front to open between the two sides in recent weeks.

The government holds the peninsula, but it borders rebel-held land where the Tamil Tiger leadership is based. Communication with the area is difficult.

		artillery2 attack by Tamil Tiger rebels near the China Bay naval3 base in Trincomalee, in northeastern Sri Lanka, Saturday, August 12, 2006" src="/upimg/allimg/070416/1037560.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> Sri Lankan soldiers inspect a container that was damaged during an artillery attack by Tamil Tiger rebels near the China Bay naval base in Trincomalee, in northeastern Sri Lanka, Saturday, August 12, 2006

Clashes are also continuing in eastern Trincomalee district, where the fighting is now in its third week.

The violence erupted when the government launched an offensive to take control of a water reservoir in rebel territory, after the Tamil Tigers blocked water from flowing to villagers on government-held land.

It was the worst eruption⁴ of violence since the two sides signed a ceasefire in 2002. The truce⁵, brokered⁶ by Norway, was meant to put an end to more than two decades of ethnically-fueled civil war that has claimed some 60,000 lives.

The Tamil Tigers demand independence for predominantly Tamil areas in the north and east of the country, because of what they say is repression⁷ by the Sinhalese majority, which controls the government in the south.

1 mediating   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的现在分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• So many factors are mediating. 如此众多的因素在起作用。
• The contrast in mediating noted in the sitting room. 客厅中注重了调和中的对比。

2 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

3 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

4 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

5 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

6 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

7 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。