VOA常速英语2007年-US Sending Senior Envoy to Pakistan

By David Gollust
State Department
13 November 2007

The Bush administration is sending Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Pakistan to press for an end to the state of emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf earlier this month. Negroponte is due in Islamabad toward the end of the week. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

U.S. officials have welcomed President Musharraf's commitment to allow parliamentary elections to go forward in January, but they are doubtful the process can be credible¹ without an early end to emergency rule.

State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey, announcing the Negroponte mission to Islamabad, told reporters the Deputy Secretary will push for lifting of   the state of emergency to clear the way for campaigning:

"We want to see all moderate political forces in Pakistan [to] be able to work together," he said.  "We continue to want to see elections move forward and move forward in a free, fair and transparent² manner. We want to see the emergency decree lifted, and to do so to be able to allow for the kind of political space necessary for parties to campaign, and people to express their views, and the media to operate."

Casey said Negroponte, now on an African trip, will go to Islamabad late in the week after heading the U.S. delegation³ to a meeting of the Community of Democracies in Mali.

The second-ranking State Department official is expected to meet with General Musharraf and other government officials and probably also political figures from outside the government, though Casey said there are no plans for Negroponte to travel beyond Islamabad.

That would preclude⁴ a meeting with opposition⁵ leader Benazir Bhutto, who is being held under house arrest in Lahore, though U.S. diplomats⁶ have been in frequent contact with her. Pressed about her detention⁷, spokesman Casey said Ms. Bhutto like other Pakistani political figures should be allowed to operate without impediments:

"We want to see the emergency decree lifted and that means not only making it so that she can go about her business as she sees fit, but that also means so that there can be releases of those that have been detained, permission for the media to reassert itself and operate freely, because those are the kinds of conditions that allow you to have a normal political process," he added.

Casey said a review of U.S. aid programs to Pakistan, triggered by the Musharraf emergency declaration November 3, is continuing.

He said State Department officials have determined⁸ that no aid cuts are legally mandated⁹ by the crackdown, but he said that does not necessary mean that none will be made.

Human rights groups have demanded an end to all but humanitarian¹⁰ U.S. aid to Pakistan, which has averaged more than $1 billion a year since 2001.

The bulk of it is security aid related to the war against terrorism, and officials here have said cutting it would be counter to U.S. interests.

1 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

2 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

3 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

4 preclude   

vt.阻止，排除，防止；妨碍

参考例句：

• We try to preclude any possibility of misunderstanding.我们努力排除任何误解的可能性。
• My present finances preclude the possibility of buying a car.按我目前的财务状况我是不可能买车的。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

10 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。