2007年VOA标准英语-Islamists Demonstrate Against Pakistan's Presid

By Daniel Schearf
Islamabad
21 September 2007

Islamist political parties have added their voice to charges that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's bid for re-election is unconstitutional. The movement against Mr. Musharraf's candidacy was also joined Thursday by terrorist leader Osama bin¹ Laden², who called for a holy war against the president. Daniel Schearf reports from Islamabad.

Hundreds of protesters, mostly from Islamist political parties, chanted slogans Friday outside Pakistan's Supreme³ Court building demanding Mr. Musharraf's resignation.

Mr. Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 military coup⁴, is seeking re-election as president in October. But his candidacy is being challenged in the Supreme Court by opposition⁵ parties, who say it violates the constitution.

Critics say Mr. Musharraf should not be allowed to be both president and leader of the military. The religious parties are also opposed to his cooperation with the United States in the fight against terrorism.

Pakistani officials and Islamist politicians had close ties with the Taleban rulers of Afghanistan before the U.S. was attacked by al-Qaida on September 11, 2001.

After those attacks, Mr. Musharraf's government led a crackdown on supporters of al-Qaida and the Taleban, and has since received billions of dollars in aid from the United States. This angers Islamists, who see the U.S. "war on terror" as a war against Islam.

In a new audio message released on the Internet Thursday, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden urged Pakistanis to overthrow⁶ Mr. Musharraf's government.

Bin Laden called Mr. Musharraf an "infidel," or non-believer, for launching a raid last July on a mosque⁷ in Islamabad used as a base by religious extremists. More than 100 militants⁸ were killed in the raid.

The presidential spokesman, Major General Wahid Arshad, brushed off the bin Laden threat. He says Pakistan is fighting extremism for its own interests, not for the U.S. or anyone else.

"Well, as far as the military is concerned, I think we don't give much importance to such threats," he said. "We've been hearing such threats before and it doesn't really deter⁹ us from our aims and objectives, which we have as part of our national effort to eradicate¹⁰ extremism and terrorism."

Opposition politicians have threatened to resign from parliament and hold nationwide demonstrations¹¹ if Mr. Musharraf is allowed to run for president while chief of the Army.

He has vowed¹² to give up his military position, but only after the elections and only if he wins.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

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 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

7 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

8 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。

9 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

10 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

11 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。