VOA常速英语2007年-Pakistan Frees 3,400 Detained Under Emergency R

By Barry Newhouse
Islamabad
20 November 2007

Pakistan's Interior Ministry¹ says about 3,400 prisoners detained since emergency rule was decreed on November 3 have since been released. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad, that officials say some of the remaining 2,000 detainees will be released soon. Shortly after the releases, police in Karachi clashed with anti-government demonstrators and arrested at least 140 journalists who were protesting curbs² on the media

In announcing the status of the approximately 5,400 people detained since the emergency decree, Pakistan's Interior Ministry was giving the highest official estimate of arrests yet.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javid Iqbal Cheema said 3,416 detainees have been released. He did not say whether those freed included any of the high-profile critics considered to be leaders of opposition⁴ groups. Cheema also said he did not know when the remaining 2,000 detainees would be freed.

"These are preventative detentions⁵ that have been made to prevent any law-and-order situations in the country," he said. "And when the provincial⁶ governments feel they pose no threat to law and order, they may be released."

Currently in Pakistan, public gatherings⁷ of more than four people are treated as public disturbances⁸ that can threaten law and order.

 

Not long after Cheema spoke³, police in Karachi clashed with groups of protesting journalists, and scores of them were arrested.

President Pervez Musharraf has defended the imposition of emergency rule as necessary to stabilize⁹ the country in the face of attacks by religious militants¹⁰. But his government has mainly arrested lawyers, civil servants and political opposition leaders since the decree.

During the same period, pro-Taliban militants have taken over police stations and government buildings in the Swat Valley, a scenic¹¹ tourist enclave several hours drive from Islamabad that has long been under central government control.

Interior Ministry spokesman Cheema says he expects the valley will be stable enough to participate in January parliamentary elections.

 

"What I'm told is that in three to four weeks' time we will be able to bring normalcy to Swat," he said.

The election commission on Tuesday formally announced that elections will be held on January 8. Opposition leaders have said they may boycott¹² the polls unless the government lifts emergency rule and reinstates Supreme¹³ Court justices who were fired by General Musharraf.

Meanwhile, the president traveled to Saudi Arabia Tuesday for two days of talks with top officials there. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in exile in Saudi Arabia, has denied reports that he plans to speak with General Musharraf during the visit.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 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。

5 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。

6 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

7 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

8 disturbances   

n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍

参考例句：

• The government has set up a commission of inquiry into the disturbances at the prison. 政府成立了一个委员会来调查监狱骚乱事件。
• Extra police were called in to quell the disturbances. 已调集了增援警力来平定骚乱。

9 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

10 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。

11 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

12 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

13 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。