2007年VOA标准英语-Iraqi Prime Minister Holds High-Level Talks in

By Edward Yeranian
Beirut
21 August 2007

Ties between Iraq and Syria appear to be warming, as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pursues a second day of high level meetings with top Syrian officials, including President Bashar al Assad. For VOA, Edward Yeranian reports from Beirut.

Urging Syrian support in efforts to curb¹ violence in his country, Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is in Damascus to meet with Syrian officials to discuss security and economic relations.

vice2 President Farouk al-Sharaa,left, and Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki in Damascus, 21 Aug 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070831/0858130.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa,left, and Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki in Damascus, 21 Aug 2007

It is Maliki's first visit to Syria since he took office last year. Baghdad and Washington have accused Iraq's neighbor of failing to rein³ in the flow of militants⁴ and weapons across the border. Syria denies this.

Maliki gave an assessment⁵ of relations between Iraq and Syria.

He says talks and dialogue between Iraq and Syrian officials are taking a spirit of cooperation and relations must evolve towards uniting views and goals, with cooperation in confronting those difficulties facing us

Syria's Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri told Maliki that he must set a timetable for the withdrawal⁶ of "U.S. occupation forces," before Iraq can be stabilized⁷.

 

U.S. troops, writes Syria's official news agency SANA, have "drawn⁸ radical⁹ forces to Iraq and ignited waves of violence."

Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Babakir Zebari, accompanying Mr. Maliki, claims that infiltration¹⁰ from Syria into Iraq is down by 60 percent in recent weeks.

Mohammed al Habash, a member of the Syrian Parliament from the ruling Ba'ath Party told al Arabiya TV that Iraq, "must seize the initiative."

 

He says the Iraqis, if they increase their control of national affairs, and cooperate with the real powers in the region, may be able to alleviate¹¹ the catastrophic state of affairs that have befallen their country, but he didn't think that Syria possesses a magic bullet to resolve things, but by cooperating, they can help.

Al Jazeera reports that Assad and Maliki engaged in lengthy¹² and detailed¹³ discussions on security, trade and refugees.

Syria, according to some reports, is now home to more than a million Iraqi refugees.

Damascus has repeatedly pleaded with international humanitarian¹⁴ agencies to help alleviate the burden of Iraqi refugees to its economy.

The Arab daily Asharqalawsat also reports that both countries are discussing the reopening of the Banyas oil pipeline¹⁵ between Iraq and Syria, closed in 1980.

Iraq's Minister of Commerce argues that trade relations between Baghdad and Damascus have deteriorated¹⁶ dramatically since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, and must improve.

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

4 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。

5 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

6 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

7 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

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 infiltration   

n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗

参考例句：

• The police tried to prevent infiltration by drug traffickers. 警方尽力阻止毒品走私分子的潜入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A loss in volume will occur if infiltration takes place. 如果发生了渗润作用，水量就会减少。 来自辞典例句

11 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

12 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

13 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

14 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。

15 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

16 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。