2007年VOA标准英语-US Denies Friction with Blair Over Envoy Role

By David Gollust
State Department
16 July 2007

The State Department said Monday there is no rift¹ between the Bush administration and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair over his new role as envoy² for the international Middle East "Quartet." Mr. Blair holds his first meeting Thursday in Lisbon with top officials of the Quartet, which includes the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Tony Blair

Mr. Blair was named the Quartet's representative in the Middle East the same day he stepped down as British prime minister June 27.

Since then, there have been persistent³ media reports that he has been seeking a broader role than the Palestinian infrastructure-building mission described in the initial Quartet announcement.

However, the State Department's top Middle East policy official denies any discord⁴ over the Blair mission, and says the former British leader "fully⁵ accepts" the mission of helping⁶ lay groundwork for an eventual⁷ Palestinian state.

In a talk with reporters, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch said he was surprised to see reports suggesting Mr. Blair was holding out for a bigger negotiating role, and said the idea has not been raised in discussions with the Quartet parties.

"Mr. Blair, as you know, is a man of great energy and vision and has a lot of experience working in the area," he said. "He's quite excited about this new job and the mandate⁸. He fully accepts that mandate. He participated in helping to shape it. It was agreed within the Quartet. And I don't think there is any tension, frankly⁹, in how it will be interpreted."

Condoleezza Rice, 11 July 2007

Officials here have said repeatedly that Secretary of State Rice expects to retain the lead political role in regional peace efforts. Welch described Blair's infrastructure-building mission as critical to the goal laid out by the Quartet in its 2003 road map to a two state settlement of the Middle East conflict.

He said Mr. Blair will bring "a focus and energy" to helping create institutions the Palestinians need for a responsible state, and to reassure¹⁰ Israelis about the nature of the entity¹¹ in the West Bank and Gaza they will be dealing¹² with.

The former British leader will discuss his mission Thursday at a Quartet meeting in Lisbon that will include Secretary Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, European Union chief diplomat¹³ Javier Solana and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Assistant Secretary Welch spoke¹⁴ here after President Bush's announcement Monday that Rice will chair an international conference later this year aimed at getting an Israeli-Palestinian peace process back on track after the Hamas takeover of Gaza.

Mr. Bush said the conference, at an as yet-unannounced date and venue¹⁵, would bring together Israeli, Palestinian, and other Middle Eastern leaders who support a two-state solution to the conflict, Israel's right to exist, and commit to previous agreements between the parties.

Welch, under questioning, would not say what Arab countries he expects to attend beyond Egypt and Jordan, which have peace treaties with Israel.

But he said acceptance of Israel is implicit¹⁶ in the Arab League's 2003 Middle East peace plan which was reaffirmed this year, and that the U.S. hopes to make the conference a vehicle for dialogue between Israel and Arab League countries with which it does not have formal ties:

"It will take work to get there. But that's our job and that's what he [President Bush] has directed the secretary to do. And we wouldn't be launching ourselves in this enterprise if we didn't have some confidence that there is a willingness in the region to embrace the path to peace. Again, that's at the heart of the Arab initiative and we take them at their word."

Secretary Rice was to have visited the Middle East this week to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But the Jerusalem and Ramallah visits were postponed¹⁷ to accommodate discussions within the administration over the President's Middle East overture¹⁸ and the situation in Iraq.

Rice is now expected to make a broader Middle East trip beginning at the end of this month, part of it in tandem¹⁹ with Defense²⁰ Secretary Robert Gates, focusing on both Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian issues.

1 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

2 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

3 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

4 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

11 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

13 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

14 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。

15 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

16 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

17 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

18 overture   

n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉

参考例句：

• The opera was preceded by a short overture.这部歌剧开始前有一段简短的序曲。
• His overture led to nothing.他的提议没有得到什么结果。

19 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

20 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。