VOA常速英语2007-Mauritania Arrests Terror Suspects

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
18 October 2007

Mauritanian officials are pursuing terrorism charges against five men they say belong to a radical¹ terror group with ties to Osama bin² Laden³. Phuong Tran has more from VOA's West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Mauritania's director of national intelligence services, Mohamed Abdallahi Taleb Abeidi, tells VOA that police have arrested five men accused of participating in terrorist activities.

He says security forces received information that the men belong to a terrorist group. Abeidi says throughout north Africa, groups inspired by al-Qaida are active.

The intelligence director adds the men have been charged and will be prosecuted⁴. He did not give details about their alleged⁵ criminal activities.

Mauritanian lawyers have accused the police of extracting confessions⁶ through torture, which intelligence director Abeidi has denied.

Lawyer Limam Mohamed Cheikh has defended Islamists accused of ties to terrorists. He says the most recent arrests follow the same pattern as previous detentions⁷.

He says the names of the detained men have not been released and that a recent change in the country's penal⁸ code allows terrorism suspects to be held up to 15 days without access to a lawyer.

Officials have, to date, not discovered terrorist training camps in Mauritania.

But analyst⁹ Anneli Botha with the Cape¹⁰ Town-based Institute for Security Studies says the Algerian-based group formerly¹¹ known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat may be active in Mauritania. The group recently changed its name to al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb, and is allied¹² with bin Laden.

"The GSPC [Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat], al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb, realize they cannot focus on Algeria only anymore," said Botha. "They need to broaden their horizons a bit. They will look for people with similar ideas to form part of a broader structure."

In two recent trials of more than 30 Islamists, Mauritanian courts dropped all terrorism charges.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

5 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

6 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

8 penal   

adj.刑罚的；刑法上的

参考例句：

• I hope you're familiar with penal code.我希望你们熟悉本州法律规则。
• He underwent nineteen years of penal servitude for theft.他因犯了大窃案受过十九年的苦刑。

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

11 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

12 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。