VOA常速英语2007-Pakistan Re-Opens Red Mosque Three Months After

By Daniel Schearf
Islamabad
03 October 2007

Pakistan has re-opened a mosque¹ where a raid three months ago against militants² left more than 100 people dead.  Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf has vowed³ the government will never allow extremists to re-take the mosque.  Daniel Schearf reports from VOA's Islamabad bureau.

On orders of Pakistan's Supreme⁴ Court, authorities re-opened Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque.

The mosque was closed in July after government troops stormed the building and a nearby religious school complex housing militants.  More than 100 people were killed in the raid.

Two weeks later, officials tried to re-open the mosque, but closed it just a few hours later after violent clashes broke out between police and protesters who tried to re-occupy the mosque.  That same day, a suicide bomber⁵ targeted police, killing⁶ 14 people.  The government tore down the religious school after the attack.

In an interview released by Pakistan's Geo Television, President Musharraf said the government had never been against re-opening the mosque.  But, he said 200 to 300 militants had been trying to take over the mosque under the guise⁷ of religion, something he would not tolerate.

"We will not allow anyone to take over the control of the mosque," he said.  "It is just a mosque.  The cleric should have normal worship there.  And, it should not be used for violent propaganda."

The Red Mosque was known for preaching an extreme interpretation⁸ of Islam and a Taleban-style movement.

One of the radical⁹ clerics who ran the mosque, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, was killed in the July siege.  His deputy and brother, Abdul Aziz, tried to escape dressed in a woman's burqa, a Muslim garment, but was captured.

The Supreme Court decided¹⁰ Tuesday to re-open the mosque, after hearing petitions from relatives of the two clerics.

Since the raid, Pakistan has suffered a series of suicide bombings and attacks against security forces that have killed hundreds of people.

Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Mr. Musharraf has made Pakistan an important ally of Washington in the fight against terrorists and extremists, support that has upset many in the country who view the U.S. "war on terror" as a war against Muslims.

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin¹¹ Laden¹² is believed to be hiding in the border area of Pakistan and Afghanistan with the support of sympathetic locals.  In a tape released in September he vowed retaliation¹³ against Mr. Musharraf for the assault on the Red Mosque.

1 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

2 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。

3 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 guise   

n.外表，伪装的姿态

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
• The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。

8 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

9 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

10 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。

11 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

12 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

13 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》